Team Possible
by Ace Lannigan
Summary: [In Progress] Team Possible faces a challenge.
1. HackNSack 3923

AN:This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, incidents, and dialogue, except for incidental references to public figures, products, or services, are imaginary and are not intended to refer to any living persons or to disparage any company's products or services.

**Team Possible**

**Early Morning: Middleton USA.**

'Ring-a-ding-dong' The UPS man waited patiently for someone to open the door. He kept waiting. 'Ring-a-ding-dong'.

"I'm coming. Keep your shirt on!" Finally Ron answered the door.

"Package for a Mr. Rufus." The UPS man smiled.

"What the? Rufus! Package for you buddy!" Rufus came bounding down the stairs, and leapt onto Ron's shoulder.

"Whasit? Whasit?" Rufus asked in his squeaky half voice.

"I need someone to sign for this." The man handed Ron the clipboard and pointed to line 23.

He scribbled his signature. "What is it?"

"How should I know? I'm just the delivery guy." He gave Ron the box and Rufus ran down his arm and started to sniff the box.

"Cheese!" Rufus exclaimed, a huge buck toothed smile on his face.

Ron opened the note attached to the box and read it. "Man…'Thank you for helping rescue my precious Llamas' How come you get all the good stuff Rufus? I helped save those stupid horses too you know."

"I have another package for you out in the truck sir. It was too big for me to carry." Ron followed the man out to the delivery truck and watched as his gift was unloaded. "Sign here please. Have a good day."

Ron's reaction to opening his gift was as one would expect. "Booyah!"

Middleton High

Kim and Ron were at their lockers getting ready for Chemistry. He was telling Kim all about the wonderful surprises he received that morning."…then after Rufus got his cheese I got this rocking new computer gaming system. Booyah! Score one for the Ron-ster."

"And this was for what again?" She seemed slightly put off that she hadn't received anything.

"From that guy who's horses we saved."

Kim looked at him funny. what horses?' "Horses? You mean Llamas?"

"Llama, Horse. What's the difference." No wonder he was failing so many classes.

"I wonder why I didn't get anything."

"Maybe he knew that you only take favors in exchange for your help."

"Probably. So when can I see this new system of yours?" She was happy for Ron. He was finally getting recognition as a member of Team Possible.

"Come over after school and I shall school you in the ways of 'Hack-N-Sack 3923'."

Ron's Room

"Rufus we're back! Where are you buddy?" Ron looked around for Rufus, he wasn't in his habitat.

Kim noticed the half empty box of cheese. "Look at all the cheese he ate. He's probably sleeping somewhere."

"Yeah probably." Ron tossed her the controller. "You ready to do some losing?"

57 games of 'Hack-N-Sack 3923' later.

"Come on Ron. One more game please?" She gave him her 'Puppy-dog-pout'. "I promise I'll try and let you win this time."


	2. Vintage

****

Vintage

"Thank you again Ms. Possible. I don't know what we would have done without your help." It was Ms. Foster the director of the 'Second Harvest Food Bank'.

"Anyone could have organized that charity food drive. I mean we only had to recruit 50 volunteers and distribute 10,000 flyers. No big. "

"You downplay your abilities too much. To do that all single-handedly." The collected food would feed many a less fortunate family in Lowerton that holiday season.

"Hey! I helped with those flyers." Ron protested.

"Who are you again?" Ms. Foster asked with a confused look on her face.

"Ron Stoppable." He explained with a note of annoyance in his voice.

"uhh?" That name didn't ring any bells for Ms. Foster.

"He's my partner." Kim explained as she pulled Ron closer to her.

"Oh yes." The woman looked to her assistant and shrugged her shoulders before turning back to Kim. "Of course he is. If you ever need anything Ms. Possible do not hesitate to call me."

"Let's go Ron. We have a test to study for." Kim headed for the Bus Stop, not a preferred mode of transportation; but, getting to this 'mission' didn't rise to the level of calling in a favor.

"Right behind you KP." Kim wondered why Ron was always trailing behind her, and not walking beside her.

They arrived back in Middleton and spent a few hours studying at Ron's house. "You want to get in a few games of 'Hack-N-Sack 3923' before we call it a night Kim?"

"Has someone been practicing?"

"Yes. I can even beat Rufus now." Rufus squeaked in protest and Ron had to admit it was only "…sometimes."

Kim schooled Ron yet again, although he did come close a few times. "Sorry Ron, keep practicing, maybe next time you'll actually win ." Ron and Rufus started another game, which quickly ended with a win by Rufus. Kim had to keep from laughing out loud, she didn't want to upset Ron. "Goodnight Ron."

Ron didn't divert his attention from the TV as he bid her goodnight. "Goodnight KP."

Kim let herself out and headed for home, she wanted to be well rested for school in the morning.

****

After the Test

"Thanks for helping me study last night Kim, I think I actually might have passed this test." Ron was walking with Kim back to their lockers after a very difficult Trigonometry test.

"Glad to hear that Ron. See what a little work can do for you?" Kim ribbed him a bit. Ron could be successful when he wanted to put some effort into what he did.

"I prefer to do as little of that as possible Kim." Ron said as he opened his locker to grab his American History book. "What the?" Ron pulled a large package out of his locker.

"What's that Ron?" Kim asked.

"Don't know, opening it to find out." Ron ripped it open. "Booyah!" A 'Vintage' black leather jacket. And a note, 'thank you for all your help with the food drive'. "Sweet! Remind me to send Ms. Foster a 'thank you' note KP."

Kim opened her locker hoping 'maybe I got something this time too'. But she opened her locker to find 'nothing'. She crammed her Trig book in and grabbed her Literature book.

Ron had his jacket on and was getting lots of comments on it from other students.

"Sweet jacket you got there Ron." It was Amelia, a senior.

"Thanks." Ron smiled and gave Amelia a wink before turning back to Kim. "She remembered my name."

"That's nice Ron, but we have to get to class." Kim slammed her locker shut, hard.

"Everything ok Kim? You seem, I don't know, kind of amped." Ron pulled the jacket off and stuffed it back in his locker.

"I'm fine." Kim said curtly. Ron shrugged his shoulders and they headed for class.


	3. A Step Ahead

A Step Ahead

Kim had a nagging suspicion about the gifts that Ron had been receiving, and decided to do some checking. She started with a phone call to 'Second Harvest Food Bank'. "Hello?"

"Hi Ms. Foster, its Kim Possible."

"Oh Kim, what can I do for you? Are you calling in that favor already?"

"No nothing like that. I just had a question."

"What about?"

"Ron received a leather jacket yesterday and the note said it was from you. You do know that Team Possible doesn't accept payment for our services."

"I know that Kim. Its just…I just felt so bad about how I treated him the other day. I thought I would make it up to him. You don't mind do you?"

"No, I suppose not."

"Thanks again for all your help with the food drive Kim."

"No big." Kim said before hanging up the phone.

Meanwhile Across Town

Dr. Drakken switched off his voice changer as he hung up the phone. "Excellent. Shego! Get in here."

Shego stepped in. "You bellowed?"

"My evil plan is proceeding exactly as planned."

"There's a first time for everything." She said mockingly.

Drakken glared at her. "You'll see. This **will **work, Team Possible is going to meet its end at the hands of Dr. Drakken."

"Yeah ok. Sure it will." Shego sat down in a chair and began filing her nails. 'He's referring to himself in the third person again, I so need to find a new job. Maybe Professor Dementor is looking for an assistant.'

A Step Behind

Kim and Ron met at her house to head for school, Ron was wearing his vintage leather jacket. As usual he was a step or two behind her. Kim stopped and turned back to Ron. "Ron can I ask you something?"

"Sure KP, what?"

"Why is it that you're always walking behind me? I'm not walking too fast for you to keep up am I?"

"No. I'm just watching your back is all."

"My back?" She arched an eyebrow and had a quizzical look in her eye.

"You know, keeping my eyes peeled for fiendish foes."

"Fiendish foes?" Ron must have been watching the **Fearless Ferret **again. "I doubt we'll see many of them on the way to school Ron."

"Never can tell. Drakken might show up or something." Ron set into a kung fu pose, and did a few stylized chops at the air. "Gotta be ready for anything."

"Trust me, my _back_ is going to be fine without you watching it for me."

Ron paused and looked as if he was pondering some deep philosophical matter. "You want me to try watching your front for a while? I think I could do it without tripping too many times. Walking backwards isn't very easy though."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Ok Ron. I give up, keep watching my back if that makes you happy."

"It does." Ron's eyes went wide when he realized his slip, and he quickly corrected himself. "I mean whatever you say KP."

"Ron Ron Ron" Kim shook her head. "Let's go." She started walking toward school again, putting a little extra shake in her step, just to drive him crazy.


	4. Tease, Please

TeamP4

Ron and Rufus sat in a booth at Bueno Nacho. Ron had ordered his standard snackage, a double order of Nacos, extra cheese. He hadn't even unwrapped them; they sat cold on the table.

"Man Rufus, I really messed up this time. I can't believe I let it slip like that. That I like watching Kim's _back_." He gazed at his reflection in the shiny chrome napkin dispenser before turning back to Rufus. "She knew what I meant, I know she did. You saw how she started shaking it after that, teasing me."

Monique walked in and headed for the booth that Ron was sitting in.

"Tease uh huh." Rufus squeaked.

"I'll never be able to live this down." Ron said dejectedly as he poked his fork into one of his still wrapped Nacos.

"Live what down?" Monique asked as she slipped into the booth across from him.

"Oh hey, Monique." Ron said his voice sunk in a kind of bleak melancholy.

"What's going on with you Ron? I've never seen you at Bueno Nacho not eating like this."

Ron sat quietly for a short time, "I have a problem Monique."

"What sort of problem Ron?" Monique asked.

"Kim." Ron admitted uncomfortably.

"Kim?"

"Yeah." Ron debated for a second as to just how much of the story Monique needed to hear. She was more of Kim's friend than his, and if word of this got back to Kim. Well he didn't want to think about what could happen. "You have to promise me something. None of what I tell you leaves this booth, no one else can know about this. Especially not Kim."

"Ok Ron, I promise. Now what's up?" Monique asked.

Ron started to explain what he was going through. He paused often during his admission, checking to make certain that no one was listening in. "Why is it happening? She's my best friend, she's Kim. Why can't I not stop thinking about her like that?

"Have you had **_the talk _**yet?"

"What's **_the talk_**?" Ron inquired.

"The birds and bees talk." Ron looked confused so Monique started to explain. "You see, when a boy and a girl are together…"

Meanwhile Back at the Lair

Drakken was explaining his plan to a very bored looking Shego.

"It's the birds and bees Shego. Don't you know anything?"

"I know more about it then you," she said with a smirk. "How are 'the birds and bees' going to break up Team Possible?"

"It's not only the birds and bees Shego, my plan is multifaceted. The gifts, they are just as important. The jealousy and resentment that they cultivate, only add to the pressure."

"Yeah, those gifts. If they ever figure out where they're coming from your plan is sunk and we're out some serious cash."

"They won't figure it out Shego; I have an inside lead on the daily goings on of Team Possible."

"I thought Rockwaller was a dead end as far as inside info."

"She was, so I recruited a new source, one with much more access."

"Yeah, whatever, now maybe you can explain to me just how you think that this plan of yours is going to ever work?"

"It's like I said Shego. The birds and bees, it's all in this book." He held up a dog-eared copy of 'The Birds and Bees for Dummies'.

"Well I can see that you have been doing a lot of late night reading. Or were you looking at the pictures?"

"There aren't any pictures!" Drakken snapped. "But, anyways. When a boy and a girl are together for so long, certain feelings are bound to come up. In one way or another." He moved toward her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "We are going to exploit these feelings that the buffoon is having, and destroy Team Possible."

Shego looked puzzled, then shocked, then sick. She began to retch.

"What is it Shego? Do you require medical attention?" He asked before arching half of his uni-brow, "because the _doctor _is in."

Shego ran out, screaming. "I quit! I quit!"

Bueno Nacho

It had been a long afternoon; Monique couldn't understand how someone as seemingly dense as Ron could ever have made it through high school. She almost had to resort to drawing pictures to get her points across. "So do you understand now Ron?" She asked exasperatedly.

"Yes." Ron lied, "no…Tell me again about the bees."

Monique would never again feel anything but sympathy for anyone that had to tutor Ron.


	5. Study Buddy

****

TeamP5

Monique had just finished retelling Ron about the birds and the bees, accentuating the parts dealing with the bees. "Okay Ron, now that's the last time I'm going to explain it to you. Do you finally understand the sitch?"

"I think so Monique." Ron was still a bit lost on some of the finer points, but he could tell that Monique wasn't in any mood to continue.

"There you are!" It was Kim, "I've been looking everywhere for you Ron."

"You have?" Ron asked her, somewhat surprised.

"We were supposed to do Trig homework at my house after school." Kim reminded him.

"Oh sorry, slipped my mind." Ron stood up, "See you later Monique, thanks for your help."

"Have fun _studying_." Monique told him as he followed Kim out the door.

Ron didn't hear her, he was already entranced by the 'hey Ron, hey Ron - look at me, look at me' shake in Kim's butt.

Monique just shook her head, 'Well that was a waste of time. That boy is a lost cause.'

****

Study Buddy

Ron and Kim had been studying for a few hours when Ron stood up. "I'll be right back KP, I've got to take care of some business."

"Business? Like what, banking?" Kim asked sarcastically.

"Very funny KP." Ron said as he walked downstairs to the bathroom.

Ron had finished with his _business _and decided to do a little snooping. He quietly opened the door on the cabinet that Kim kept her _personal_ items in. He reached in and pulled out a small light blue box, 'hmm, Satin Teen, interesting.' He replaced the box and picked up a bottle of lotion, **Club Banana Exclusive: Strawberry Sensation**, 'No wonder she always smells so good.' He opened the lid and sniffed. 'Yep, definitely KP.'

He continued to stand there sniffing the sweet fragrance. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't hear the door opening. "Ron, what are you doing?" It was Kim, she must have come looking for him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be snooping." His worst fears had come true, Kim caught him in the act. He looked away, afraid to face her. He could hear her footsteps coming ever closer across the white tile floor. The footsteps ceased, she must have been standing just behind him.

"I was starting to get lonely." She stepped up close to him, he tried to move away but couldn't. She had him up against the wall already. "Up in my room, all alone." She turned him to face her, "without you."

He looked into her emerald eyes, they were beautifully deep. "You missed me?"

"Of course I did, Ron." She leaned in close, her lips growing ever closer to his…

"What'd you do? Fall in?" Kim asked as she knocked on the door. "It's been 15 minutes."

Ron almost dropped the bottle, "Sorry Kim, I, uh, just have to wash my hands." He said as he quickly closed the lid and replaced the bottle. He started running water in the sink and flushed the toilet, to mask the sound of him closing the cabinet door. He stepped out of the bathroom and quickly closed the door behind him. "Sorry KP, I guess, uh, I sort of lost track of time." He blushed a bit, which was quite uncommon for him to do especially around Kim.

They headed back up into Kim's room to finish studying, but Kim quickly decided that Ron was too distracted by something to continue. "Let's call it a night Ron, your mind is obviously on something other than Trig right now." Kim closed her textbook and tossed it onto the floor.

"Its been a long day." Ron admitted as he wiggled his fingers near his right temple, "I'm a bit scattered."

"Go get some rest." Kim told him, "I'll stop by your house tomorrow and we can finish this then."

"Goodnight KP." Ron said as he walked down the stairs out of her room. She heard him say goodnight to her parents before he left for his house.


	6. Lotion

Team P6

Their flight back from Arizona was for the most part uneventful. Not at all like their mission, they almost didn't make it back from this one. Ron had seemed extremely distracted the entire time they were in Phoenix. Kim didn't want to think about what might have happened had it not been for timely intervention of the research team they had come to help. How Ron could have bumbled into that trap that Professor Dementor had set for them, she would never know. "It was **so** obvious Ron. How could you **not** have seen it?"

Ron didn't respond, he seemed to be in his own little world, just looking out the window at the quickly passing landscape.

"Ron!" She said forcefully.

Ron's head snapped back on his neck, "What? Did you say something KP?"

"What's gotten into you lately? You seem to be just, I don't know. Out of it, or something."

"I guess I really screwed up this time. I'm sorry Kim." He nervously rubbed his hands together as he avoided looking at her. His looking at her had almost gotten them killed this time, what would happen on the next mission?

"Ron…Just please. Try and pay a little more attention next time. Ok?" She said in a reassuring tone, she couldn't stay mad at Ron for very long, he was just too likeable.

"I'll try KP." He continued to rub his hands, and Kim noticed.

"Hands kind of dry from that syntho-plasma stuff Dementor used?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Here try this, its what I use." Kim tossed him a travel sized bottle of Strawberry Sensation. Ron opened it up and squirted a big blob onto his hand. "Whoa! Amp down Ron! That's way too much!" She fairly shouted at him.

He began to dig into his pants pocket with his one lotion free hand. When he pulled it out he had retrieved an old Bueno Nacho napkin. Presumably to wipe off the excess lotion.

"Don't waste it. Its expensive." She leapt across the cabin and grabbed his hand; Running two of her fingers through the sizable dollop of lotion, taking about half of it for herself.

'Her hands are so soft.' A little voice in his head said.  
'Shut up.' His own voice in his head responded.

He rubbed the lotion into his hands, it felt smooth like silk, like satin...

'Like Kim's hand.' The little voice noted.  
'Shut up.'

Ron sniffed his hand and told Kim. "Smells nice."

'Just like Kim.' The little voice teased.  
'Didn't I tell you to shut up?'

A few days had passed and Ron arrived home from school to find a letter waiting for him. It was postmarked from Phoenix, Arizona. He opened it up and read the short note: Thank you for your invaluable assistance in the safeguarding of our experimental equipment.

He chuckled, 'yeah my _invaluable assistance _almost got KP and me killed.' He was about to throw the letter in the trash when a small plastic card fell from the envelope. He picked it up. 'A Club Banana gift card for 200 dollars.' "What am I going to do with this?"

"Kim." Rufus squeaked.

"No. I don't want her to think that I'm trying to buy her forgiveness. Maybe I should just throw it away." He stepped toward the wastebasket, stopping just short of it. "But I can't do that either. I mean this is a lot of money, it's 200 bucks."

'Spend it.' The little voice in his head encouraged him.

Club Banana

Ron walked into Club Banana after school the next day and stopped at the counter. He was thankful that Monique wasn't working today, and that Kim was busy doing something with her. If he had known they had planned a shopping trip to the mall, he would have rescheduled his stop.

"Can I help you?" The clerk asked

"Yeah…Stacy." He said after reading the girl's nametag. "I need a bottle of that Club Banana Exclusive: Strawberry Sensation lotion."

"Buying your girlfriend a present?" She asked as she opened the display case.

Ron paused before responding, he needed a good excuse to be here. "Something like that."

She got a bottle out and handed it to him. Ron looked at the price tag. It was **so** expensive, and yet **so** small. "Maybe I'd better get two." She got another bottle out. "Tell you what. Just give me as many as I can get with two hundred bucks. I've got this gift card, I may as well use it up."

She got 3 more bottles, the store's entire stock. "That's going to be," She scanned the barcodes and rang up the total on the cash register, "202.44"

Ron handed her the gift card and pulled out his wallet. He eventually found a five dollar bill in it, which he also handed to her.

"Here's your change, 2.56, your receipt, and your lotion." She handed him a small bag with the five bottles in it. "Thanks for shopping the Banana."

"Thanks, Stacy." Ron walked out of the store and headed for the food court, he was kind of hungry.

'She was cute.' He thought.  
'Not as cute as Kim though. She's a hottie.' The little voice was back…  
'Quit saying that. Kim is not a hottie.'  
'Yes she is.' …and persistent…  
'Shut up.'  
'She's H-O-T hot, and you know it.' …and annoying.  
'I thought I told you to shut up.'

Ron sat at a table in the food court pounding on the side of his head mumbling, "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up." It was his own personal mantra.

"I wonder what that guy's problem is?" An old lady asked her husband as she pointed at Ron.

"Who knows? Kids these days…he's probably on something." He told her as he led her away from Ron.

* * *

A few minutes after Ron had left the Club Banana store Kim and Monique walked in. "Hi Stacy."

"Hey Kim, Monique. How's it going?" She asked cheerily, smiling a genuine smile at the two girls.

"Good, I just need to pick up a bottle of Strawberry Sensation. I'm about out." Kim stood at the counter digging in her purse for her Club Banana Discount Card, while Monique looked at some of the new stock of Cleopatra's Closet outfits.

"Oh, sorry Kim. Someone just bought the last five bottles. You just missed him in fact." Stacy let her know.

"Him? And he bought **FIVE** bottles?" Kim asked, very surprised that a guy would be buying what could easily be described as a girlie lotion.

"Yeah, blond hair, about your height, a really nice guy." Stacy said. "We'll be getting a reship of it Tuesday. Do you want me to hold a bottle back for you?"

"Thanks, I'd appreciate it." Kim said before turning to walk over to Monique. 'Blond, my height, nice guy. Ron? No it couldn't be. Why would he need all that lotion?'


	7. Electric

Club Banana

"Can you believe it Monique? Some **_guy_ **bought up all the Strawberry Sensation lotion before we got here." Kim said as she joined her friend at the display rack.

"Some guy?" Monique asked, disbelieving of what she had just heard.

"Yeah, and he bought FIVE bottles, that's like two hundred bucks, he must be crazy."

"Well we're getting a reship of it in on Tuesday." Monique told her, not knowing that Kim already knew. "I'm sure Stacy would hold back a bottle of it for you."

"She already is." Kim said as she absently ran her hand along the sleeve of a nice fuzzy pink shirt. Now she would have to resort to using her mom's Lilac Lace lotion. It was nice but it wouldn't be the same. She didn't feel like 'Kim' without the light scent of strawberry about her. "You wanna hit the food court? Maybe get a smoothie?"

"Sure. Why don't you head down and order, I've got to check my schedule for next week." Monique said.

"Ok, orange banana right?" Kim asked, not wanting to order the wrong combination like she had last time.

"Yep." Monique said as she walked behind the counter into the backroom. Kim headed for the food court.

**Buddy**

"Hey buddy." The mall cop said to Ron as he tapped him on the shoulder. "Buddy!"

Ron looked up at the rent-a-cop, wondering what _his_ problem was. "What?"

"You're scaring the other customers." It was one of those _Barney Fife_, little man with a badge, types. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He jerked his thumb toward the door.

"Whatever." Ron said, sighing a long sigh, before he stood up and began to walk away.

"Don't forget your bag." The Barney said as he handed Ron his Club Banana bag.

Why on earth had he bought FIVE bottles of lotion? He couldn't give **any** of it to Kim, not unless it was her birthday or maybe Christmas. Except her birthday had long since passed and Christmas wouldn't be here for another six months.

Electric

Ron arrived home and told his mom that he was going up to his room to study. Before he headed up he put Rufus into his maze habitat to let him play and sleep. Ron walked up to his room and closed the door behind him, locking it. He carefully placed all but one of the bottles into his dresser. He took the remaining bottle and carried it over with him to his bed. He sat down and opened it, taking the opportunity to enjoy the first whiff. 'Kim' was the one thought that entered his mind. He squirted a small dollop of the creamy lotion onto his palm. After he set the bottle on his nightstand he dabbed his finger into the lotion in his palm. He rolled the small dab around on his finger with his thumb.

'That does feel like Kim's hand, so smooth, so soft.'

Kim's hand reached down, replacing his. "Is this the right way Ron?"

"Turn it a little and run your thumb along the side, like this." He took her hand and positioned it properly, "and go a little faster."

Her hand began to move faster, and faster. Too fast.

"Slow down KP, don't rush it." He wanted this to last, it felt so good. "Let it come naturally."

"Sorry. It's my first time." When she said that Ron couldn't help but smile.

"Mine too." He admitted while quietly encouraging her to continue, "faster."

A strange electric feeling began building in him. It started off low, both in intensity and location. As it strengthened it traveled up his spine until it made contact with the base of his brain, it reversed course and quickly traveled back down to its point of origin. When it bottomed out, he exploded. He was breathing heavily and glistening under a thin layer of sweat. "God…that was the best KP."

There was no response. He looked around. "KP?"

He was alone. It was all just in his head, and **his **hand.

Smoothie

Kim was sitting waiting patiently for Monique, she was taking a long time to check her schedule. Maybe something had come up? Kim was about to head back to Club Banana when she saw Monique walking toward her. "Sorry it took so long Kim, I had to make a phone call. I needed to switch a day with Konnie so I can head up to Upperton next Thursday. The GWA is having a meet and greet at the Oshmann Super Sport store."

"Going to meet _Steel Cage_?" Kim asked, with a strange emphasis on steel cage.

"_Steel Toe_, Kim. _Steel Toe _is a wrestler, steel cage is well, a cage." Monique explained.

"I was just playing with you, Monique. Ron explained the difference to me last time the GWA was in Middleton." Monique smiled an understanding smile. Ron and Kim were tight. No matter how different they seemed to be on the outside, inside they were inseparable friends.

"Speaking of Ron, where is he, why isn't he here?" Monique asked.

"Well you know Ron. He would have been here but he said he had some big thing to do today after school. What it was? I have no idea."

"He didn't tell you? That seems kind of odd." Ron had never been one to keep secrets from Kim.

"Ron…he hasn't been acting quite like himself lately. I don't know what the sitch is with him."

Monique sat quietly, not wanting to betray the trust that Ron had in her. She wanted to tell Kim, 'He's crushing hard on you! He's in love with you!' but she didn't, she couldn't, not yet. "Maybe you should have a sit down with him. See what's on his mind, see what's been bothering him."

"Maybe." Kim said as she took a sip of her smoothie.


	8. Yummy Pie

Yummy…Pie.

Ron stepped out of the shower and began to towel off. He stopped and looked at his hand, **the** hand. "I can't believe I did that." He resumed drying off, rubbing the towel over his head. "Its not my fault that Kim is so…curvy."

'Don't you mean…HOT.' The little voice in his head asked.

"Shut up!" He said loudly, suddenly embarrassed by yelling at his own reflection in the mirror.

Ron finished drying off and stepped into his room to get dressed. He didn't have plans tonight, other than dinner with the folks and then playing some 'Hack-N-Sack 3923' with Rufus. It was Friday night after all and he never had plans on Friday nights. Not since Kim started dating **boys** instead of hanging out with him. If memory served him she was going to be going out with Andrew Mathews tonight. He was a nice enough guy, not overly snobby…not like Mankey. His hand absently found its way into his front pocket as he adjusted his package.

'Fantasizing about boys now are you?' The little voice asked.  
'No!' Ron felt disgusted, how did that thought ever pop into his head? 'His sister is way hot though.'  
'As hot as Kim?'  
'Almost.' Ron admitted to himself as he jiggled it a bit.

"Ron dinner is ready, get down here before it gets cold." His father called up the stairs to him.

Ron pulled his hand out of his pocket and put on a shirt before heading down stairs.

Dinner was good, as usual, Italian beef and noodles, one of Ron's favorites.

"What's for dessert?" His father asked.

"I didn't have anything made. Did you want me to get something out of the fridge?" Ron's mother asked.

"I smell strawberries, thought maybe you had made a pie or something."

"No. Strawberries are out of season." She told him. It was too early for strawberries, good ones at least, the ones they tried to pass off out of season tasted like Styrofoam.

Ron cringed, he knew what his father was smelling. It was him, his hands and his _package_, he must not have washed himself thoroughly enough. "I don't smell anything." Ron stated flatly. "May I be excused?"

Knock it up

Drakken sat back, a satisfied look on his face. "I do believe that its about time to knock it up a notch…Shego!" He bellowed and waited. He was growing annoyed by her stubbornness, why couldn't she show him the respect he deserved? "Shego! Where is that woman?"

"Uh... Dr Drakken. Shego quit last week remember?" One of his henchmen told him.

"What?" He tried to recall the memory, oh yes there it was. He stood and gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "No matter, you should be able to handle this assignment."

"Sure thing boss, what is it?" The henchman asked.

"Follow me. I'll show you." Drakken turned and walked out of the room, the henchman at his heel.

Dateless

Andrew Mathews had only recently moved back to Middleton from Go City, not that he had much of a choice. Social Services wouldn't let him stay in Go City after his mother... passed away. The thought of living with an almost complete stranger had scared him, especially since his father had remarried and had a new family. His fear was unwarranted. His new mother was nothing but nice and her daughters readily accepted him into their lives.

"Tara have you seen my Coogi? The blue and yellow one?" He called downstairs to his sister.

"It was up in your room last time I saw it," she answered.

A few minutes later he came walking down the stairs, "Found it thanks."

Tara gave him a nodded you're welcome and turned back to her studies.

'Not any way to spend a Friday night,' Andrew thought. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us? I'm sure Kim wouldn't mind, and I know that Lee would be glad to go with you." He didn't like to see her like this, she was so down.

"No thanks, besides I have homework to do." She said, not looking up from her work.

"A new cheer routine is hardly what I would call **homework** Tara." Andrew observed as he looked over her shoulder.

"I do. So just go on your stupid date already." She snapped. Her face fell, "I'm sorry Andy."

"Its ok, I know it hurts." The way Brick Flagg dumped her, the night before the spring formal, for another **guy**. It devastated her, it would have devastated anybody.

"How come I always seem to get stuck with jerks?" She asked not expecting any answer, not that Andrew had one to give her.

"The right guy for you is out there sis, you just have to find him." He reassured her before leaving to pick up Kim.


	9. Mr Right

Hack-N-Sack 3923

Ron and Rufus had been playing for the better part of two hours, Ron was actually winning more games than he lost. "The Ron-meister is hot tonight Rufus." Ron boasted.

Rufus squeaked out a one word reply, "cheating."

"Not me little buddy. Its called practice, lots and lots of practice." After all what else did he have to do with his free time besides playing video games? He couldn't expect to spend all day with Kim, she had her own life to live. They were about to start another game when his mom yelled up the stairs. "Ron you have a phone call, it's Monica."

Ron looked at Rufus, confused. "Do we know a Monica?" Rufus shrugged his shoulders and Ron picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Ron, what's going on with you tonight?" It wasn't Monica, it was Monique.

"Not much Monique, just hanging out with Rufus playing some video games." Ron told her.

"You wanna hit Bueno Nacho with me? Say in about 20 minutes?" Monique was actually inviting Ron to hang out with her? On a Friday night?

"I'll be there in 15." Ron said as he quickly hung up the phone. He got up and changed into a cleaner shirt, "gotta look good for the ladies," and then put Rufus into his habitat and headed downstairs to tell his folks. "I'm heading to Bueno Nacho for a while."

"We just ate two hours ago," his father reminded him before asking, "you can't possibly be hungry again already?"

"There's always room for Bueno Nacho." Was Ron's answer to him as he headed out the door.

Sulk

Tara flipped the cover of her 'Cheer Squad Routines' book closed and sat back into the couch. "This is **so** boring." She said to the empty room. "Maybe something good is on TV." She picked up the remote and started surfing, eventually landing on what was once one of her favorite shows. 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'. A single word escaped her lips as she hit the power-off button, "Brick." She shuddered at the mere sound of his name.

Why did it have to be her? Why didn't Brick come out when he was dating Bonnie? Why didn't Bonnie tell her about him? About his weird obsession? Why was she sitting here thinking about him? That was the real question.

"Andy was right, the right guy for me is out there somewhere. I just have to find him." She told herself, "and that won't happen if I just sit here sulking."

A renewed Tara stood up and headed up to her room to get changed. She was going out to look for her Mr. Right.

Monique

"About time you got here Monique." Ron chided, "I've been waiting 10 minutes."

"Next time I won't stop for red lights…or pedestrians." Monique said jokingly as she slipped into the booth across from Ron.

"I never do." Ron told her.

"That's because you walk Ron, I happen to have driven here." It was true Monique had her drivers license, and a car.

Ron had his license too, but no car. And there was no way he was going to seen riding his moped anywhere. "Hey I'll be getting a car too…someday." His parents weren't going to buy him a car until next year. The excuse was money, its always about money when your dad is an actuary.

Monique took a drink of her Diet Coke and asked. "So, Ron, how do you like your lotion?"

Ron's face paled as he stammered out his response, tiny flecks of tortilla following the words out of his mouth. "H-How do you know about that?"

"Doy. I work at Club Banana, remember? Stacy told me that some guy had bought a bunch of Club Banana Exclusive: Strawberry Sensation. She said that he was about your height, had blond hair, and was a really nice guy."

"That could have been anyone." Ron said defensively.

"I saw the video of you buying it." Monique said, "now tell me how and **why** you bought it."

"Kim let me use some on a flight back from Phoenix. It did a good job and I liked it. So I bought my self a couple of bottles of it." Ron was actually telling the truth, for the most part. "Is that a crime?"

"How did you afford **five** bottles of it?" She asked, knowing that Ron could barely afford to grande size most days. How could he ever afford Club Banana Exclusive label?

"I got a 200 dollar Club Banana gift card in the mail the other day." He told her before he started devouring his second Naco.

"Why would someone send you something like that?" Sure, Kim had told her how, recently, Ron had been getting **gifts **from people they helped. Sometimes as a genuine thank you, but mostly as an apology for not noticing his contribution. But why on earth would anyone send Ron a gift card from Club Banana? A specialty retailer that catered to girls. In her eyes he was more of a Smarty Mart shopper, and his choice in clothing style could attest to that. 'So very discount.'

"That lab that Kim and I went to out in Phoenix last week sent it to me as thanks for my _invaluable assistance_." Ron told her in between bites of food. She could hear the inflection he used on 'invaluable assistance' and a Mona Lisa smile found its way onto her lips.


	10. Baby Blue

Baby Blue

"I'm serious Monique. I thought you just wanted to hang out with me. But, if all you're going to talk about is my recent shopping experiences. I may as well just go home right now." Ron said, sounding rather hurt, as he began to stand.

"I'm sorry Ron. Topics of general interest from here on, I promise." Monique didn't want to change the subject, but she didn't want Ron to leave either. Not yet.

Satisfied, Ron sat back into the booth, "Thanks." A short moment of silence followed, Ron didn't really know what he should be doing, interpersonal communications weren't his specialty, especially when he was talking to a girl. "So anyways, the GWA is going to be in Upperton next Thursday. Are you going?"

"You know it. I wouldn't pass on an opportunity to see Pain King in person." Monique said with a smirk, knowing exactly how Ron would react.

"Phfft. Pain King…" Ron said dismissively, before exclaiming, "Steel Toe rules!"

Monique didn't respond to his outburst, she just sat there with a 'are-you-through-yet' look on her face.

"So can I get a ride from you?" Ron asked meekly.

The Lair

Dr. Drakken and his obedient henchman finally made their way into the lair's communications center. Drakken stopped in the middle of the room and stood silently tapping his toe. He was starting to have some doubts about his plan, first Shego quits for no reason whatsoever; and now the spy he has watching Team Possible is late calling in.

"Uh. Mr. Drakken, sir, what am I supposed to be doing?" The henchman asked stupidly.

"Firstly, its Dr. Drakken. I didn't go through six years of college to be addressed as Mr. Drakken. Secondly, I can't tell you what you will be doing until my contact calls in. They should have called by now, I mean, their night minutes start at seven, not nine."

Bueno Nacho

"I'll give you a ride, **if** you wear a Pain King shirt when you ask for Steel Toe's autograph." Ron thought Monique had to be kidding.

"No way. Steel Toe rules too much for that." Ron told her, there was absolutely no way that he would ever wear a Pain King shirt, "I won't do it."

Monique stood up from the booth, "Tell you what, you ponder walking, no better yet riding your moped, to Upperton Thursday. I've got to go freshen up, tell me your answer when I get back." With that Monique headed for the ladies room.

Ron was weighing his choices, "Pain King shirt…Riding my moped," when he noticed a familiar car pull up and park in front of the restaurant. A Volkswagen beetle convertible, in baby blue, Tara Mathews' car. 'I wonder what she is doing here on a Friday night?' Ron tried not to let himself stare at her as she walked in, she was wearing a pair of faded Levis and one of her brother's shirts. A long-sleeved white button-up with sky blue pinstripes, the top two buttons left undone.

She took a look around the near empty establishment, 'No one is here either, except Ron. Oh well.' She walked over to his booth, "Hi Ron." She said with a small smile, Ron wasn't exactly in her social circle; but he did save her, and all the other cheerleaders, from that freak Gill, at Camp Wannaweep.

"Hi Tara." Ron replied with a slight blush on his face. "I figured you'd be at Bobby Johnson's party."

"I didn't feel much like going…people are still talking about…" Tara's voice trailed off, and her eyes fell to focus on the ground at her feet, as she was taken back to the day after Brick came out. The teasing and gossip about her, it was overwhelming. Even Bonnie, her supposed friend, had spread some wild accusations. When she looked back up she noticed it, the look of understanding in Ron's eyes. He had been the focus of so many rumors at school, he knew exactly how she felt. He also knew enough not to mention it, when Tara was ready to talk about it, she would. There was no point in trying to force the issue. Tara gave him a smiled look that said 'thank-you-for-not-mentioning-it'.

She sat down in the booth across from him, "So, why aren't you at the party?"

"I wasn't invited." Ron said.

"Oh." Tara said sounding sort of apologetic.

"It's no big. I'm used to it." Ron told her as she smiled a relieved smile.


	11. Filled up Cup

Party

Kim and Andrew had been at Bobby Johnson's party for over an hour. Neither of them were very heavy drinkers, so when the party inside started getting too rowdy they went out to a more private spot in the quiet backyard garden. They were sitting together on one of the several benches, Kim talking while Andrew listened.

She was telling him of her recent mission to Phoenix, and how Ron had made a mess of things for them. "I was, all like, Ron look out! And he was, like, not paying attention, or something. So he just stepped right on the trigger, and we both got slimed by the syntho-plasma." She stopped talking and looked at Andy, "I'm rambling again aren't I? I'm sorry. You must be bored listening to me always talking about Ron and our missions."

Andrew tipped his cup back and took a drink. "No, I'm not bored," He put his arm across her shoulder and gave her a light squeeze. "I like hearing about all the cool things you do, saving the world and all that. I guess I'm just worried about Tara." Andy knew that Ron was a big part of Kim's life, so he was always willing to listen to her when she needed to talk about him.

"So, she still isn't over the whole Brick thing?" Kim asked.

"Nope." Andrew replied.

"I still can't believe that Brick is actually gay." Kim said before taking a drink. "He never seemed the type."

"Not cool enough?" Andrew asked as he emptied his cup.

"Yeah." Kim answered.

"I guess the old saying is true. You can't judge a book by its cover." Andrew noticed that Kim's cup was almost empty. "I'll go fill these up and be right back." He said as he took her cup and headed off to find the keg.

Kim sat, smiling, watching his **back **as he walked out of her sight and into the house. "Definitely a nice guy," she sighed.

The Lair

"It's about time that you called. I don't pay you to keep me waiting." Drakken's contact had finally called in, "Now what information do you have for me?" He demanded.

The informant relayed the latest news about exactly what had happened with Team Possible since their last chat. Drakken smiled as he heard the latest news, "Excellent, excellent. That information will prove most useful indeed." He hung up the phone and turned to his henchman. "Go and get changed into civilian cloths. You're going undercover for this assignment. When you get changed come back here, I'll give you the details of your assignment then."

"Yes sir, Dr. Drakken, sir." The henchman gave a salute and hurried off toward the barracks.

Drakken let out a sigh, "I miss Shego. She was always better at this than any of these buffoons."

Filled Up Cup

Kim was starting to wonder if Andrew would ever come back, he had been gone for a long time. 'Maybe there was a line at the keg, or they needed to tap a new one.' She was about to go looking for him when he stepped out of the house.

"Sorry, I had to take a leak." He told her as he handed her now full cup back to her.

"No Big." Kim lifted her drink to her mouth and took a long draw. She set her cup down on the table next to his and scooted a little closer to him. "Thanks for taking me out tonight Andy. Otherwise I would probably be stuck with Ron at Bueno Nacho right now."

"What would be wrong with that? I thought you and Ron were tight?" Andy asked, Ron was, first and foremost, Kim's best friend.

"We are, it's just…" Kim told him.

"He's not acting like himself and you're worried about him." Andy suggested.

"Yeah. I guess that's it exactly. Only I don't know what his problem is, or how to help him get over it." Kim stated.

"Knowing what's wrong doesn't always make it easier to help."

"With Tara." Kim said knowingly.

"She just needs someone, I don't know…nice." He sounded unsure as to whether what he was saying made any sense. "Do you know any _nice_ guys?"

Kim knew a lot of guys in school, as well as from the surrounding communities. If anyone could find his sister a 'nice guy', it would be Kim. "Only you, Andy." She said, smiling, before she kissed him.

Bueno Nacho

"Oh, that's easy, I just use their last name!" Ron said, delivering the punch line of his joke. Monique groaned and Tara laughed out loud.

"That was hilarious Ron, tell another one." Tara pleaded as she tried to catch her breath.

"Okay here's one I think you'll like." Ron began, "This guy was having a problem with mice in his apartment…"


	12. Closing Time

Closing Time

The trio had been talking and telling jokes at Bueno Nacho much longer than any of them realized.

"Hey you guys, we're closing the lobby in 5 minutes. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here." It was Ted, the night manager.

"Closing?" Ron looked at the clock, it was 11:55 and, "I was supposed to be home an hour ago." He started to panic. Being late meant being grounded, and being grounded meant no GWA Thursday with Monique. He stood up quickly, nearly spilling his drink. "I've got to run. Thanks for inviting me out tonight Monique. Nice talking with you Tara. I'll see you both at school Monday. Bye"

"Later, Ron." Monique told him.

"Bye, Ron." Tara said as her eyes followed him out the door. They continued to follow him down the sidewalk, until he was out of sight. When she could no longer see him she let out a barely noticeable sigh.

"Tara." Monique spoke her name with an almost questioning tone, but garnered no response from the beautiful blonde. "Tara." She repeated slightly more forcefully. Tara turned her head quickly back from the window through which she had been watching Ron.

"What?" She asked, blushing slightly.

Monique had a sly smile on when she leveled her accusation at the blonde cheerleader. "You..._like_…Ron."

Tara blushed a deeper shade of red. "No…It's just…He's such a funny, nice, guy…Kim's lucky to have him for a friend."

Monique didn't believe Tara's denial, not for a second, but she'd let it slide. For now. "You're right, Kim is lucky to have him. I'm sure a lot of girls would **love** to have a boyfriend, I mean guy friend, as nice as Ron."

Tara stood up, still blushing, explaining herself to Monique as they walked to their cars. "I'm sure they would. I mean Ron is nice and all, but he's still…Ron."

Monique just smiled a knowing smile, "Well I'm heading home. I have to open Club Banana in the morning."

"I might be stopping by there at about noon, maybe we could do lunch?" Tara suggested as she stepped into her car.

"Sure thing Tara, give me a call if you are." Monique replied, "Bye."

Tara didn't return a farewell, she had already zoned Monique out. She only had two things on her mind, getting home and Ron. Was **he** the Mr. Right she had set out to find tonight? 'No.' She told herself, shaking the thought of him from her head as she drove off toward home.

Home

Andy's car pulled into Kim's driveway at 12:04, they were late getting back from the party. If her parents caught her sneaking in late, she would be in trouble.

"Couldn't you have driven a little faster?" Kim asked sounding slightly perturbed.

"We would have gotten here in plenty of time if a certain someone didn't insist on stopping at Bueno Nacho." Andrew replied, ribbing Kim about her late night snacking.

"Nothing covers beer breath better than some Diablo sauce." She told him, one of the _perks_ of hanging out with Ron was learning everything she never wanted to know about Bueno Nacho.

"I'll have to remember that for next time." Andrew said as he popped another stick of gum into his mouth. "Goodnight Kim." He said as he leaned over to kiss her. When he pulled away, his face was red and his lips were tingling. "That sauce burns. How can you stand it?"

"I'm used to it I guess. See you later Andy." Kim said, stepping out of his car before walking to the front door. She quietly opened the massive door and stepped inside, closing it gently behind her.

"You're five minutes late young lady." The unnaturally calm voice of her father informed her from behind his evening paper.

"There was a line at the Bueno Nacho drive-thru." She lied, "I'm sorry, I should have called and told you I'd be late."

"I know you're not a little girl anymore Kimmie cub, what with dating boys and going to **parties**; But, I'm still your father, and I worry." He said not looking away from his paper. "Now get to bed, you've got that fundraiser with your mother in the morning."

"Goodnight daddy." Kim said as she turned to head up to her room.

"One more thing. You're grounded next week. No dates. No boys." Kim froze in her tracks and turned to ask why. "The Diablo sauce doesn't work as well as you might have been led to believe."

x.

Ron ran up to the front door of his house and opened it quickly, it was 12:05 and, he was an hour and 5 minutes late getting home. He didn't bother with trying not to make any noise when he entered, he was busted and he knew it.

"You were supposed to be home over an hour ago. Just where have you been?" His father demanded.

"I was at Bueno Nacho with Monique and Tara." Ron expected to hear the standard 'I'm your father and you're grounded for a week' speech that he had heard so many times before.

"I know Monique but who is this Tara person?" His dad asked.

"She's a cheerleader, you've met her before. The blonde with the pale blue eyes." Ron explained.

His father could hardly believe what his ears were hearing. Ron had been hanging out all night with two girls, neither of which was Kim. "Well I'm not going to punish you this time. Just remember to call us the next time you're planning to be out past curfew."

"I wasn't planning on it, we just lost track of the time." Ron said as he silently celebrated, he would be able to go to Upperton Thursday with Monique to the GWA meet and greet.

"You've got a big day helping Mrs. Possible with that fundraiser for the Children's Hospital tomorrow. So get to bed."

"Goodnight dad." Ron said before he headed upstairs to his room.

x.

Tara arrived home just scant seconds after her brother had pulled into the driveway. She parked her car next to his and got out.

"Back from Bobby Johnson's already, Andy?" She asked him.

"Yeah, Kim had to be home by midnight." He told her as he locked his car doors. "I didn't expect to see you up when I got home."

"I decided that I needed to get out of the house for a while." Tara told him as they walked up the driveway.

"What'd you do?" He asked as he unlocked the front door.

"Hung out at Bueno Nacho with Monique and Ron." She said.

"Kim's friends?" He asked as they walked upstairs to their respective rooms.

"Yep"

"Did you have fun?" If she had been out having a good time maybe she was finally starting to get over the whole Brick incident.

"Yeah, they're both really nice." She said as she stepped into her room and closed the door behind her.


	13. Hot Dog

TP13

Ron met Kim at the fundraiser bright and early Saturday morning, 7:30 AM. Ron was tired but presentable. Kim, on the other hand, was tired and looked like warmed over death. She wouldn't be spreading much sunshine today.

"Wow KP you look pretty ragged this morning." Ron said as he looked her up and down.

'Ragged but still hot.' The little voice told him.  
'Shut up.'

"I overslept, barely had time to get dressed before mom drug me out the door." Kim said as she tried applying eyeliner without the aid of a mirror.

"So how'd your date with Andy go?" Ron asked as he set out yet another stack of informational packets.

"It was an absolute blast. Bobby's party rocked hard." She told him, her face breaking into an energetic smile.

"I'll bet." Ron said in a defeated tone. He had never been, and most likely never would be, invited to a Bobby Johnson party.

"The only downside of the night happened when I got home. I was, like, five minutes late and my dad grounded me for a week. Can you believe it?"

"That's whack. I was out an hour past curfew and my dad let it slide." Ron said, playing it cool.

"You went out last night?" Kim asked surprisedly.

"Yeah. I hung out at Bueno Nacho with Monique and Tara... pretty much all night." Ron allowed himself a slight smile as the memory of last night's events came back to him.

"You, Monique and Tara? Hung out **all** night?" Kim heard, but did not believe.

"Well, it was really only about 4 hours." Ron said rather nonchalantly.

"You, Monique and Tara?" Kim asked again.

"I believe we already established that fact, Kim."

"Tara went out with you last night?" Kim asked a third time.

"We weren't out," he made the little finger quotes on the word **out**, "we were just hanging." Adding, almost as an aside. "Tara's got a great sense of humor…she laughed at **my** jokes."

Kim was about to ask a fourth time when Ron interrupted her, something had caught his eye. "Ooh. Car raffle KP! Loan me five bucks for a ticket." He gave her his very poor version of her puppy dog pout, "please?"

"Fine." **Her** pout certainly got around, and all the way back to be used against her. She dug in her purse and pulled out a fiver. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Ron said, before he ran to buy his ticket. When he got back he gave her the good news. "If I win you can be my first passenger."

"A ride with 'Crash Stoppable'?" She said in a very mocking tone, placing her hand on her chest. "I must be the luckiest girl in the world."

Ron was about to say something when Mrs. Dr. Possible walked up, she had seen them goofing off. "Get back to work you two."

"Yes, mom." Kim said unenthusiastically.

"Sure thing, Mrs. Dr. Possible." Ron answered cheerily.

Club Banana: Lunch

Tara walked into Club Banana looking for Monique, who was leaning against a display case chatting with Stacy. "Hey Monique." She called out as she waved at her. "You ready for lunch?"

Monique stood away from her resting spot and responded, "I thought maybe you weren't going to show. I asked you to call me if you were going to stop by."

"You did?" Tara asked, she certainly should have remembered Monique telling her that.

"Yeah," Monique said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "But, it's no big."

"Sorry. I must have had something else on my mind."

"I'll bet." Monique smiled a sly smile. "Probably a certain blond, about yea high," she held up her hand, "that's a 'funny, nice, guy'."

Tara blushed furiously, "NO."

"Mm-hmm." Monique hummed out rather smugly. "If you say so." She turned to Stacy, "I'll be back in 45 minutes or so," and then back to Tara, who was still blushing a bit. "Salad ok with you?"

"Sure." She said as they headed to lunch.

Lunch

Kim and Ron sat back against the wall relaxing, eating their lunch, in the thin sliver of shade the building offered. Kim decided that this was a good time for her to have that 'sit down' talk with Ron.

"Ron?"

"Yes KP?" Ron asked before he took a sizable bite off his footlong.

"Monique and I were talking and…"

Ron began almost choking on his bowwow before he forced a swallow. "Talking about what?" He asked as he took a drink of soda.

"You." She said flatly, before her voice filled with concern. "You seem really distracted lately. Is there something going on with you that I should know about?"

"Kim…I." He began. Had Monique broken her promise to him? Did she sell him out to Kim? There was only one way for him to find out. He had to lie to Kim.

"Ron? I just want to help. If I can."

"It's school," He lied. "I don't think they're going to let me be mascot next semester, because of my grades." He stuffed what was left of his first beenie into his mouth. "I guess it's got me bummed out more than I thought."

"I didn't think your grades were **that** bad." She said before smiling a big smile and faux-punching his shoulder. "It'll take some work on your part, but we should be able to get your grades up so you can still be mascot next semester."

"Work? Oh man!" Ron whined outwardly, all the while celebrating on the inside, before starting in on his second bun pup.

x.

Tara had been unusually quiet during lunch. Her salad sat almost untouched, only having been picked at around the edges. Something, or rather someone, was on her mind. "Monique?" She asked quietly not looking up from her plate.

"Yes?"

The beautiful blonde glanced up, "What's Ron like?"

"Besides funny and nice?" Monique asked before continuing after a nod from Tara. "Well he can be a bit stubborn, even annoying sometimes. But, if he _likes _you. If he _trusts_ you. There is nothing he wouldn't do for you."

x.

"First off Ron it's your _**hotdog**_, not your wiener!" Kim said holding Ron's frankfurter in her hand. "And, if you're going to get another soda, grab me one too."

"Will do KP." Ron said, headed for the refreshment table. 'KP…Will you hold my wiener?' he chuckled as he snagged another pair of cups.


	14. Many Happy Returns

Many Happy Returns

"If you really want to know all there is to know about him you'll have to ask Kim. She knows him better than anyone." Monique said.

"But she might tell him I asked about him." A concerned Tara noted.

"So? What would be wrong with that? You like him don't you?" Monique didn't really have to wait for an answer, she could tell that Tara liked Ron.

"Well yeah, but…"

Shego

"What do you mean, NO?" Shego asked angrily into the mouthpiece of the phone.

"I am sorry but I do not require any additional assistants at this time. I will keep your number on file. If I have need of your services at a future time, I will be sure to call you. Goodbye."

"Lousy no good dirty…" Shego grumbled as she checked yet another name off her list of potential employers. "That makes no's from: The Seniors, MonkeyFist, Jack Hench, and now Professor Dementor." She skidded in her chair backwards across the floor away from the desk. "I really, **really** don't want to do this but…" She flipped open her cell phone and hit the number 2 speed dial.

"Hello?" Asked the man that answered.

"Hey Dr. D. It's me." Shego said somewhat cheerily.

"Shego!" He exclaimed. "Does this mean you're coming back to me?" He asked with a touch of uncertainty in his voice.

"I suppose so." She sighed glumly.

"You've made me so happy!" He was absolutely giddy and began to dance a happy dance. "You won't believe how difficult these morons are to…Shego? Shego?" He checked his phone; she had hung up on him.

Ron and Kim

"I can't believe my mom made us stay all day at that stupid fundraiser." Kim pouted as she ran a dry towel through her limp wet hair. "Especially after it started raining."

"It wasn't that bad Kim." Ron said. He had spent all day with Kim, a plus in his book; and, he didn't stare at her, _too much_, or fantasize about her in any way.

"I got soaked. I'm probably going to catch cold now." Kim said stepping behind her screen so she could change out of her wet clothes. As usual, Ron was a gentleman covering his eyes while she changed.

Ron stood with his hands over his eyes trying his best not to look at the shadow he knew that Kim's near naked body cast on the thin screen. But, try as he might, he couldn't stop himself from sneaking a quick peek between his fingers. 'Look at how pert they are, a guy could put an eye out on one of those.' He quickly recovered his eyes and turned away slightly.

"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you KP." Ron said.

"Why not?" She asked as she stepped from behind the screen.

'Because you're too hot to catch cold.' Said the little voice.  
'Shut up.'

"Everyone knows that colds aren't caused by being cold." Ron informed her.

"This from the guy who thinks that pro-wrestling is real." Kim said rather disapprovingly. "Could you hand me that bottle of lotion please?" She asked, pointing to a bottle on her dresser.

Ron turned and picked up the bottle, about to hand it to Kim when he noticed. "This isn't your usual brand."

"How do you know?" She asked as she took the bottle from his hand.

"Well I…on the plane. You had strawberry something or other," he looked to reread the label in her hand, "This is **Lilac Lace**."

"It's my mom's. I ran out of mine and Club Banana was sold out. Some **guy **bought the last five bottles yesterday." She told him as she rubbed the lotion onto her arms and hands.

"Some guy?" Ron asked, trying to sound as put off about it as Kim did.

"Yeah, what would a guy do with five bottles of lotion anyway?"

'I know what one guy does with it,' the little voice teased.  
'Shut up.'

"Maybe he bought it for his girlfriend." Ron suggested, retelling the lie used when **he** bought those last five bottles.

"I suppose that's possible." Kim said. "Hey how about after dinner I swing by your house and we can get started on getting your grades up."

'Or getting something else up.' Damn that little voice.  
'Shut up.'

"I thought you were grounded, no dates no boys." Ron said.

"I am grounded, but this is doing homework with you. So it's no big."

Ron turned and started for the stairs, "Well I should probably get home. I'm sure mom and dad are waiting for me." He turned back to Kim, "See you later KP."

"Later Ron." Kim waited until he was down the stairs and gone before picking up the phone and dialing her friend's number. "Monique? Can we talk?"


	15. Dinner for Two

Dinner For Two

"So did Ron say anything at all Friday night about his grades or his future as mascot?" Kim asked standing in her room talking to Monique on the phone.

"He and Tara talked about cheer camp, his mascot uniform, and how much they both didn't like Ms. Purcell." Monique answered, adding. "Other than that no, he didn't."

"Ms. Purcell?" Kim asked surprisedly. "She's the new Home Economics teacher, right?"

"I think so." Monique said.

"Ron loves Home Ec. I wonder why he doesn't like her." Kim asked as she twirled a loose strand of hair around her finger.

"He said something about her dropping his soufflé."

"Oh yeah. He did tell me something like that last week…I think."

"Why the sudden interest in Ron's grades Kim? If you don't mind me asking?"

"He told me that's why he's been so distracted lately. That his grades are bad and he may not be allowed to be mascot next semester because of them. But, I know he's lying." Kim said, sitting down onto her bed with a thump. "Mr. Barkin would have told me if we needed to find a new mascot."

"What are you going to do about it? His lying to you."

"I don't know…" Kim said softly as she laid back and stared at the ceiling.

Ron

"I'm home!" Ron called out as he stepped through the front door.

"You're soaked." His mother said as she watched the rainwater dripping off him onto her clean floor. "Get upstairs and get changed out of those wet clothes before you catch cold."

"What's for dinner?" He asked, changing the subject.

"We're going out." His mom told him as she headed for the kitchen to get a mop. "You can get take out from Bueno Nacho."

"Sweet!" Ron said. "Oh, by the way, KP is coming over later to help me with my homework. How long are you guys going to be gone?" He asked his dad, who was watching TV.

Ron's dad looked at him slyly, "Why? Are you two going to be…doing something?"

"What? Doing something?" Ron was confused, Kim was coming to do homework, he just told him what they would be doing. "What are you talking about dad?"

"You know…" Ron's dad gave a little pump with his fist. "…_doing something_." Ron got it.

"Eeewww!" His face squished into an 'oh gross' look. "No! Kim's like a sister to me. That is **sick** and **wrong**."

'Like what you've been doing isn't?' The little voice asked.  
'Shut up.'

"Well I thought…that is…you're growing up is all and…"

"And," Ron began to speak, imitating his father's voice, "_when I was your age I had chicks all over the place_…" Ron ceased his imitation. "Don't worry dad, you'll have plenty of grandkids someday, but not from me and Kim. And not until after I'm at least 18."

'At the rate you're going you'd better make that until you're at least 30, Mr. Spanky McSpank-my-wiener.' Grr! That little voice.  
'Shut up.'

Ron turned and headed upstairs; wanting to do nothing more than shower and change into clean dry clothes.

Tara

"Aren't you going to eat dinner tonight Tara?" Mrs. Mathews asked as she began to set the table.

"I was hoping I could, maybe," Tara looked down as she swept her foot shyly across the carpet, "go…out to eat?"

Her dad smiled, "Of course it's alright if you want to go out. I'm sure we can manage here without you."

"Thanks daddy." Tara smiled and hugged him before heading out the door.

"It sure is nice to see her so happy again." Her mother noted as she placed the last of the silverware on the table.

"Aren't we going to wait for Tara before we start dinner?" Andrew asked as he carried the platter of roast beef in from the kitchen.

"She's going out to eat." His father told him as he sat down.

Andy smiled telling his parents that she was, "Probably going back to Bueno Nacho."

"Bueno Nacho? Why do you say that?" Debbie Mathews asked her son.

"She hung out there last night."

"With who?" Mr. Mathews asked.

"Monique and Ron. They're friends of Kim's."

"Ron Stoppable?" He asked with a note of concern in his voice.

"Yeah. That's his name, why?" Andrew looked to his father for an answer.

"No reason." He gave a small dismissive wave of his hand. "Ashley, would you please pass the butter."

Bueno Nacho

Tara wasn't sure exactly why she was sitting here. Why she was waiting for someone that might not even come in. She had been sitting in the booth for 30 minutes, and working on her second glass of Diet Mountain Dew, when **he** walked through the doors.

It was him, it was Ron. He had a far off look in his eyes and didn't notice her sitting there in **_his _**booth. He was still thinking about homework and Kim…and what he had done in the shower.

'Like a sister huh?' The voice asked contemptuously.  
'Shut up.'

Tara shifted nervously in her seat, hoping that Ron would notice her and come over on his own. She didn't want to seem desperate to talk to him. It wasn't until after he had ordered and turned to walk out that he saw her.

"Hey, Tara." He said with a casual smile as he walked over to her. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hi Ron." She answered shyly, blushing a bit. "I was just getting some dinner." She traced a small circle on the table top with her finger. "Would you…like to keep me company?"

All his thoughts of doing homework and Kim went out the door. "Sure." He sat down across from her and opened his carryout bag.

Kim

Kim tried knocking…again. 'Still no answer. Where could he be?' She stepped back from the door and pulled her Kimmunicator out. There was one person she knew that could tell her exactly where Ron was. She pressed the call button and waited for a response.

"Hey Kim. What can I do for you?" Wade asked as his image flickered onto the screen.

"I need you to locate Ron for me." Kim told him. "We were supposed to be doing homework tonight but he isn't home."

"Let me check." Wade tapped a few keys and clicked the mouse. "Found him. The computer shows him as being at Bueno Nacho. Do you want me to stream the video from the surveillance camera?"

"Please and thank you." Kim said with a smile.

"Here you go." Wade's image faded and was replaced by an interior shot of the restaurant. The camera showed the usual things: people waiting in line, food being made, Ron and Tara sitting together in a booth.


	16. Grounded

Snoopy

"Wade can you get me an audio feed from inside Bueno Nacho?" Kim had begun to head for Bueno Nacho from Ron's house already, cutting through side yards to make better time.

"Why do you need that?" Wade asked, wondering what could be going on inside Bueno Nacho that would be so urgent.

"Ron and Tara are sitting…in **our** booth…together." Kim said with a huff as she ran across a vacant lot, "and I…want to know…what they're…talking about."

"Are you sure it's any of your business?" Wade asked, taking a sip of soda.

"Just do it." Kim told him as she jumped over a fence.

Wade tapped out a few commands on his keyboard and managed to pull audio from a microphone at the counter. "Let me try to augment it and take out some of the background noise for you." He tapped a few more keys and slid the mouse around, clicking it twice. "Here you go Kim."

Kim stopped running and instead pressed her ear against the tiny speaker, listening intently to the faint voices.

"…need…sugar…someone…" It was Ron's voice.

"…much…a…bit?" Kim heard Tara ask.

"Wade can you up the volume a bit? I can barely hear them." Wade adjusted the volume higher for her. "Much better Wade thanks." Kim said, not pulling her ear from the speaker.

"How much of that Trig homework have you gotten done? Because I'm stuck on problem 17." Tara asked.

"I haven't even star…" Ron started to say casually, and then exclaimed, "…**8:30?**" The slight feedback from the extra emphasis in his voice caused Kim to wince a little. Unfortunately, by having her ear pressed to the speaker, Kim couldn't see a customer walking up to the microphone.

"I'LL TAKE, UH, AN EL GORDO STEAK AND PORK…"

A horrendously loud feedback sounded directly into her ear. Kim jerked her head back quickly and held the Kimmunicator out away from her. She stuck her finger in her ear and jiggled it around a bit while shaking her head from side to side. "Thanks a lot for not mentioning something like that might happen, Wade."

"Oops." Wade's image popped back onto the screen. "Sorry Kim."

Kim's finger remained jiggling about in her ear while she looked back to the video feed, Ron and Tara were gone. "Where'd they go?" She asked.

Beetle-Mania

"Thanks for giving me a ride back to my house Tara." Ron said as the windshield of her car began to show the first smattering drops of rain.

"It's no big." She said as she turned the car off of Lexington Parkway onto Friedle Avenue.

'Aww how cute, she sounds just like KP.' The little voice cooed.  
'Shut up.'

"Could I use your cell to call Kim?" Ron asked politely.

"Sure." Tara let her fingertips touch onto his palm as she handed him her phone, "Here you go."

"Thanks." Ron opened the phone, dialed Kim's number, and waited for an answer. When Mr. Possible answered he said. "Hi Mr. P. Is Kim there?"

"Hello Ronald." He answered, letting him know. "No, isn't she at your house?"

"Oh, Yeah, ah, about that Mr. P. I, ah, kinda forgot…about her coming over tonight and, ah, went out. I'm on my way back home now though. So, if she shows up there…will you let her know that I called?"

"Will do, Ronald." Mr. P hung up the phone and dialed a new number. Wade's number.

Grounded

"Wade are you tracking him? Where's he headed?" Kim asked as she jogged down the empty sidewalk.

"It looks like they're heading for…" Wade was interrupted by the ringing of his phone, "Just a sec." He reached over and answered it. "Hello? Yes, I'll patch you through."

"Kim, it's for you…your dad." Wade said as he transferred the call

"Kimberly Anne Possible." Her father's stern voice came over the Kimmunicator.

"Daddy, hi." Kim stopped dead in her tracks when she answered; hearing her dad use her full name meant one thing, and one thing only, she was in trouble. "What can I do for you?"

"Get home this instant." He told her, reminding her that, "You're grounded remember?"

"But I..." Kim tried to explain the sitch.

"Now! Kimberly…" He wasn't going to listen to her excuses, "Unless you want another week added on."

"I'm on my way dad." She sighed defeatedly and started toward home, silently cursing Ron's name under her breath as it began to rain.

Homework

"Thanks again for the ride home Tara." Ron said as he stepped from the car.

"It was no problem Ron, tell Kim I'm sorry about making you miss your date." She said to him as she leaned across the now empty passenger seat.

Ron blushed a bit when he told her, "It wasn't a date, we were just going to do homework."

Tara smiled as she sat back into her seat and said. "I'll see you at school Monday." Ron closed the door and stepped back. She gave a little wave as she backed out of his driveway. Ron reciprocated with a wave and a smile of his own. He stood watching her drive away for a few seconds before he turned and headed up the walk to his house.

Ron opened the door and stepped in; his parents weren't back yet so he headed up to his room. He'd try calling Kim one more time to apologize and ask her for help before trying his hand at doing homework alone. He picked up his phone and hit the redial button.

"Is Kim there?" It was once again Mr. Possible that answered his call.

"Yes she is Ronald."

"Can I talk to her?" Ron asked as he sat into the chair in front of his desk.

"No. She's grounded and you know the rules…no dates no boys."

"But Mr. P it's me. It's Ron." Mr. Possible had never once before included Ron in the 'boys' category.

"Talk to her Monday at school Ronald." With that Mr. P hung up on him. Ron's phone slipped from his hand, bounced off his knee and landed with a thud at his feet.

"Man…I am so dead, I'll never be able to get this homework done." Ron flipped open his Trig book and started in on the first of the assigned problems. It took him just over fifteen minutes to finish and there were twenty more to go. "At this rate I won't be done until," He did some quick figuring on his fingers, "Four in the morning?"

"Uh uh, two." Rufus squeaked.

"Are you sure buddy?"

"Yep." Rufus answered.

Ron dropped his head against the desk, if he couldn't even do simple math what chance did he have of ever figuring out Trig? Ron knew he needed help…but who else could he ask? Thinking, thinking…'Wade? No, not after last time. Monique? No, she doesn't take Trig. Hmm…' He snapped his fingers, "I know who I can call." He picked up his phone and grabbed the copy of the **Cheer Squad Routines **book that Kim had given him when Drakken's brain-switch machine switched his mind into her body.

'And what a body.' The little voice noted.  
'Shut up.'

He flipped through the pages until he found the phone number he needed. He dialed and waited.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Tara? It's Ron…"


	17. Jealousy

Homework

"I was wondering, do you think that…maybe tomorrow… that we could…get, y'know, together and…" Ron didn't have any trouble talking to Tara face-to-face for over 6 hours in the previous 24. So why was it so difficult for him to do now? How hard could it be to say, _wanna do homework_? "Maybe, y'know, work on my, I mean…work on our Trig homework?"

"I'm sorry, Ron but I have to go to my Grandma's tomorrow." Tara apologized. "I'll be gone all day too; otherwise I would love to help you out."

Ron sighed, "Oh, ok. Thanks anyway Tara." His voice picked up a bit and was almost cheery when he said, "Tell your Grandma I said hi."

"I will Ron, bye." Tara said reaching over her desk, pulling out her Trig homework and a notebook.

"Bye, Tara." Ron hung up the phone and turned to Rufus, his voice fading back into a bleak monotone. "I'm sunk. Guess I'll have to settle for another 'F' in Trig."

"Kim. Tomorrow." Rufus squeaked out.

"You think that maybe if I ask him nicely, Mr. P will let me see her tomorrow?"

'Just don't ask him to hold your wiener.' The little voice advised.  
'Shut up.'

Tara

Tara set aside her homework and picked up her phone. Sure, it was late but Monique should still be up. She dialed her number and waited for an answer.

"Hello?"

"Hi Monique, it's Tara." She was on cloud nine; she had finally met her Mr. Right, again.

"Tara, what's up?" Monique asked, wondering what could be so important that it couldn't wait until morning or school on Monday.

"I just wanted to tell you, about Ron. I sort of, uh, bumped into him at Bueno Nacho tonight." She blushed slightly as she leaned back and slowly swiveled in her chair. "We talked about so many things, school, cheerleading, me, him, even Kim. He knew exactly when to talk and when to listen, what to say and what not to say." She ceased her spinning and sat upright. "He wasn't stubborn or annoying at all and…" Her voice dropped to a near whisper, "I think he likes me."

Drakken

Drakken sat back into his chair, the simple assignment he had given the henchman should have been complete by now. Hopefully it went smoothly, after all how difficult could it be to rig a simple contest? The phone rang, and Drakken let it keep ringing, until caller ID showed it was the agent calling in.

"Report." Drakken said after he picked up the phone.

"Operation Ticket was successful." The male voice said over the phone line.

"Operation Ticket? I think you have the wrong number." Drakken was about to hang up the phone when he remembered that was the codename he had given. "Oh yes, Operation Ticket. The buffoon bought a ticket then?"

"Yes." The agent said in an exasperated tone, wondering just what sort of vast Clovian intellect the mad doctor had.

"Excellent." Drakken heard a strange beeping in his ear. "Hold on, I think I have another call." He hated call waiting; he could never figure it out. He pressed the _flash_ button, "Hello? Oh wait let me try again." He tried once again, "Hello?"

"We have a problem…" The informant let him know.

"What sort of problem?" Drakken asked anxiously. He had enough difficulties, his evil scheme was complex, slightly behind schedule and way over budget; the only positive was that Shego would be coming back to him.

"The girl - Tara." A flat voice answered.

"This is not good…" He sighed out as he slumped deeper into his chair.

Sunday Morning

Kim sat in her room talking with Monique on the phone, "…and now they won't even let me leave my room except to go to the bathroom. It's like I'm in prison or something."

"That's harsh. Didn't you explain the sitch to them? About going looking for Ron?"

"I tried but they didn't want to hear it." Kim said as she kicked at a dust bunny near the foot of her bed.

"So what were Ron and Tara doing at Bueno Nacho anyway?" Monique asked, knowing full well what they had been doing…talking.

"I don't know what they were doing for sure." Kim's finger absently found its way into her ear as the painful memory of last night came back to her. "All I know is **she** had **him** in **our **booth, and then they went somewhere in her car."

"Sounds to me like **someone** is jealous." Monique insinuated.

"Me, jealous of Ron? Please." Kim stated quite condescendingly.

"Not of Ron, of Tara." Monique clarified her assertion.

"What?" Kim was shocked to hear that Monique could actually believe that she could be jealous of another girl hanging out with Ron.

"I quote, '**she** had **him** in **our **booth'." Monique accentuated the same words that Kim had emphasized earlier.

"I am **so** not jealous of Tara." Kim tried denying it as best she could.

"Friday night they were practically finishing each other's sentences. Then Saturday night he ditches you to have dinner with her."

"He did not ditch me!" Kim exclaimed vehemently.

Welcome Back Shego

"Hey Dr. D." Shego greeted him in a less than enthusiastic tone as she stepped into the lair.

"Shego!" He shouted happily as he ran to embrace her in a crushing bear hug. "You've come back to me!"

Shego managed to free herself from his grasp and pushed him away, "Uh uh. New rule." She held her arms out parallel to the ground, and began moving them back and forth as to indicate her personal space. "This is now a Drakken-Free-Zone. Got it?"

"But Shego…" His protestation was cut off by the sudden appearance of a fiery green-gloved hand in front of his face.

"Got it?" She asked threateningly.

"Yes, Shego." He whimpered as he cowered away from her.

"So, how's operation Team Possible going?" Shego asked as she took her usual seat and began to file her nails.


	18. Tara in Trouble

Tara in Trouble

"Well Shego." Dr Drakken began, "The plan is…alright."

"Really?" She asked mockingly. "That's interesting." Adding, rather smugly, "It's not…_great_?"

"Well if you **must** know Shego." He said with a huff as he began to pace the floor. "It would seem that the buffoon's feelings for Kim Possible aren't _exactly_ what they seemed to be."

"So _your_ plan is a bust then?" She made certain to ask in such a way so as point out his failure.

"NO!" He shouted. "If it wasn't for this girl…What's her name…" Drakken scowled as he clenched his fist and rubbed it against his forehead in an attempt to remember the name. "Tia…Tamara...Tarma…**Tara!** That's it. Tara. I want her taken out of the picture." He turned to Shego and ordered her to, "Eliminate her for me!"

"I could do that…" Shego said slyly as she filed her nails.

Ron's House

"I'm heading over to the Possible's for a while dad." Ron said as he pulled on his jacket.

"Don't stay too long son." His dad told him, reminding Ron that, "lunch will be ready at 12:30."

"I'll be back before that." Ron stepped out of the front door, closing it behind him.

He was about to start for Kim's house when a maroon sedan pulled into the driveway. A man stepped out of the vehicle and started to walk toward Ron. "M-Mr. Mathews?" Ron addressed him hesitantly.

"Hello Ronald." Mr. Mathews greeted Ron with a firm handshake. "Is your father home?"

"Y-Yes sir." Ron answered shakily as he withdrew his hand.

"I suggest you keep going to wherever it is you were going." Robert swept his finger in the general direction of anywhere-but-here.

"Yes sir." Ron said hurriedly as he turned away and headed for the Possible family home. Looking back he saw Mr. Mathews step through the front door, having been welcomed into the home. Ron's only thought was, 'What is **he** doing here?'

Kim's House

The short trip from his house to Kim's took longer than normal. He was walking slowly, pondering why Tara's father was at his house. Hadn't Tara told him last night that she was going to her visit her Grandma? If she was, why wasn't her father with her? If she wasn't, why couldn't she help him with his homework? Ron pushed the nagging questions from his mind as he stepped onto the front porch of the Possible Household. He gave himself a quick going over, straightening his hair and running his hands over his jacket to smooth it out, before ringing the bell.

The door opened to reveal a stern looking Mr. Dr. Possible. "Ronald. Something I can do for you?" He asked unconcernedly.

"Mr. P…about last night. Don't blame Kim for my mistake. " Ron began, before taking a deep breath and beginning again. "I went to Bueno Nacho to get some takeout and Tara was there and she wanted me to keep her company and I did and we started talking and one thing lead to another and pretty soon it was 8:30 and I remembered about Kim and I had Tara drive me to my house and I tried calling Kim to apologize but she wasn't home and then when I got home I tried calling again and you wouldn't let me talk to her and now I won't be able to do my Trig homework and I'll fail and get held back a year and Kim and I won't graduate together and I'll be a bigger loser than ever and…"

Mr. Possible had heard enough of Ron's desperate rambling; he placed a firm hand over Ron's mouth. "Ronald, take a breath and quit talking." He pulled his hand away. "Kim is still grounded."

"But…It's not Kim's fault. You know how much she worries about me." Ron said as he ran his hand over the back of his neck, feeling the bump that was his tracking chip. "I shouldn't have left her hanging like that. I…"

"Go home Ronald." Mr. Possible said tonelessly as he began to close the door

"But-but…Mr. P." Ron stammered, trying to plead his case.

"Goodbye Ronald." Mr. Possible said as the door closed in Ron's face. He watched through the peephole for a few minutes as Ron simply stood dumbfounded on the front steps. After Ron had finally turned away and started for home Mr. Possible walked up the stairs to Kim's room. He knocked on the door gently, "Kimberly?"

"Come in." She answered through the still closed door.

Mr. Possible opened the door and stepped into her room, leaning back against the doorframe. "Ronald was just here."

"He was?" She asked flatly, not looking up from her Trig homework.

"I think he wanted to apologize," Kim glanced up at her dad, "for ditching you last night."

"He didn't ditch me!" She snapped, before blushing deeply and softly apologizing, "…sorry."

Her outburst didn't have a noticeable effect on his mood, he remained stoic. "When he wasn't home last night." He paused. "Why didn't you come back here?"

"I was worried about him." She said as she sat up on the edge of her bed. "He's been acting so not like himself lately that I…I thought he might be in trouble."

Mr. Possible shifted nervously, it was obvious to him that Ron meant a lot to her. "Well about your punishment…" Kim's face lit up. "You're still grounded," and went back to sullen. "But, Wednesday night, when you're watching the boys for us… you can ask Ronald to keep you company."

Drakken's Pad

"Or." Shego finished, leaving Drakken confused.

"Or?" He asked anxiously.

"We could use her against Kimmie." Shego stood, smirking as she revealed **her** plan to destroy Team Possible.

"How?" Drakken asked doubtfully.

"Doy!" Shego sighed and rolled her eyes, explaining. "If Ron is with Tara he won't have time for Kim and her little missions."

"So?"

"So there'd be no distraction," She said smiling evilly, "It would be the **two** of us against the _one _of her. It would be…"

Drakken was imagining the ultimate defeat of Kim Possible, not at his hands…not at Shego's hands…but at the unwitting hands of the buffoon. His unblinking eyes betrayed his inattention.

"Are you even listening to me?" Shego asked as she snapped her fingers in his face.

"Yes Shego. Us against her…" He sighed, waving her away.


	19. Six of One

Six of One

Drakken whined, "I still don't see why we should just abandon **my** scheme in favor of _yours_ Shego. I mean I'm the mad genius, not you."

"So far I've really only seen the mad - and not much of the genius." Shego taunted, "Besides that, **MY** idea actually has a **chance** of working." She tapped her finger on her chest proudly, before pointing a finger at Drakken. "Unlike most of the stuff _you_ come up with."

Drakken clenched a fist and pouted, "At least you could let me…" He was interrupted by his cell phone ringing, "Hello?" It was his informant.

"I have some _information_…that…you…might…find…useful." The informant teased.

"What is it?" He asked hopefully, a small smile on his face.

"Kim Possible..._likes_...Ron Stoppable." The words were delivered in a slow, deliberate, tone.

Drakken looked puzzled, "Who's he?"

"**Gahh**!" Drakken had to hold the phone out away from his ear; the screaming was too much for him. "He's the **sidekick**! You **idiot**!"

Drakken brought the phone back up to his ear, pointing a finger at the mouthpiece with his free hand, and spoke in a commanding manner. "You listen to me little missy. I'm the boss of you! You will treat me with respect!" His voice calmed, "…now apologize."

"I'm sorry you're an idiot."

"Apology accep…wait, did you…" His question ceased at the 'click' of his informant hanging up on him.

Shego stifled a laugh and asked, giggly, "So what did Monique have to say this time?"

"The birds and bees are back in action Shego." Drakken said, an evil smile crossing his lips, as he began to cackle.

Skippy

Ron shuffled into the house at 1:30, he had missed lunch.

"Where have you been?" His mother asked, "I thought you said you'd be back in time to eat?" Her voice a mixture of concern and anger.

"Sorry Mom. Mr. P wouldn't let me see Kim, and I kinda wandered around after that…I think he hates me or something." Ron said as he hung his _vintage_ leather jacket on its hook.

"He doesn't hate you Ron, how could you ever think that?"

"He wouldn't even let me in to talk to her." He said sadly.

"I'll talk to him about it." She said reassuringly, "Now, would you like something to eat?"

"Not hungry, going to my room." Ron said as he turned and headed upstairs.

"Oh, by the way, did you know that Mr. Mathews had wanted to speak with you?"

"He did?" Ron asked, turning back with a confused look on his face. "What about?"

Carolyn had to admit she didn't know what it was all about, "He said that he wanted to speak with you about something important. He said it was personal too, are you…_doing something_ that I should know about?" She spoke hesitantly.

"No mom, I'm not _doing _anything that you need to know about." He told her in no uncertain terms.

'Except all the whacking.'  
'Shut up.'

"Well he said he'd try and get in touch with you later this week, so make sure you're available." She informed him.

"I'll try mom, but you know how it is with KP. We could be on a mission somewhere when he calls." Ron told her.

"I didn't think she'd be going on any missions this week, since she's grounded." His mother said.

"She isn't going to not go, you know that." Ron explained, "She's too **Kim **to just sit at home for a week."

KP 1.66

Kim sat on her bed thinking about Ron. Sure he had been acting weird lately, and he lied to her about it. But, deep down she knew he was still her best friend. "Maybe I should ask him again, tell him I know he's lying." She shook her head slightly, "No, I can't do that. I've lied to him about stuff that's going on with me, and he let it slide until I told him about it." She sat back against the headboard and opened her notebook. "I'll just pay more attention to him, what he does, and who he does it with. Maybe I'll figure out just what it is that's bothering him before he tells me." Kim smiled as she began to work on copying _some_ of her trig homework, "This should make him happy, a free _C minus _in Trig."

Ride?

It was 7:30 on a sunny Monday morning and Ron was walking to school alone. "What was up with Mr. P this morning?" Ron asked Rufus, "He knows that Kim and I always walk to school together. I mean he could have given me a ride too, you know." Ron continued down the sidewalk not noticing a sleek red convertible, with the top down, pulling up behind him.

"You need a ride?" A sweet feminine voice asked. Ron stopped and turned to see who it was.

"Bonnie?" Ron was shocked, was she seriously offering him a ride?

"Do you want a ride or not?" She asked, gently stroking the passenger's seat headrest with her hand.

"Sure." Ron said as he started for her car.

"That's too bad." She sneered, pulling away fast, leaving Ron standing with one foot on the sidewalk and the other in the gutter.

Tara 2.66

Ron made his way to his locker, and as luck would have it Kim was still at her's. Ron took his jacket off and opened his locker.

"Hey, KP." He said in a cheery, yet hesitant voice.

"Hey, Ron." She replied, turning toward him with a smile.

"About Saturday." He began nervously, although **why** he was nervous was beyond him. "I'm sorry about ditch…"

"Ron," A voice called out from just down the hall. It was Tara, looking good in her cheerleader outfit. She stepped between the two friends, smiling coyly at Ron. "Thanks for dinner Saturday." She placed a small folded note in his hand, "See you in Home Ec." Tara turned away with a slight spring in her step and walked down the hall. Kim stood glaring at her until she was out of sight; Ron was too busy reading the note to notice her hateful stare. It began,

'Ron, thanks for keeping me company Saturday night. I'm sorry I couldn't help you with your Trig on Sunday. My grandma says **hi**. Here's a copy of the answers for you, I figured a B minus would be about right, since you always have Kim helping you out, and she's got a 4.3 GPA.'  
_'Hugs, _**Tara'**

Ron couldn't help it; he had to say it, "Boo-yah!"


	20. Explanations

TP 20

Ron's overwhelming feeling of glee was cut short when he remembered; he still had to apologize to Kim for Saturday night. He calmed himself and started over, "About Saturday…"

Kim wasn't listening, she stood staring down the hall, her eyes fixed in a thousand-yard stare. Ron noticed and glanced down the hallway, half expecting to see Andrew Mathews; or maybe even Mankey, although that possibility was much less likely. Ron shrugged his shoulders when he saw that there was no one in her line of sight. "KP?" he asked.

Kim didn't respond, so he asked again, "KP?" He waved his hand in her face and whistled a two note tune. That finally got her attention, she snapped back to reality.

"Huh, oh what?" Kim asked, an ever so slight blush on her face.

"About Saturday," Ron started yet again. "I'm so sorry about leaving you hanging like that. I should have let you know where I was, I'm sorry."

"Where were you anyway?" Kim asked, already knowing full well where he had been.

"I went to Bueno Nacho to grab some study food." Ron shifted his weight slightly as he continued his explanation. "And, sort of ran into Tara."

"Tara?" Kim asked, in a half I-already-knew-that tone.

"Yeah, Tara. Anyways she asked me if I could keep her company. She's been through a lot lately, what with the whole…_thing_." Ron didn't feel the need to say exactly what thing she had been through, everyone already knew.

"The _Brick_ thing." Kim clarified, needlessly.

"Right, and I knew she needed someone to talk to and…"

"One thing lead to another and before you knew it, it was way later than you thought." Kim finished for him.

Ron stammered a bit, "Yeah, that's it exactly. How'd you…"

"Because you've done the same for me." Ron looked, lost, so Kim explained it to him. "When Walter Nelson dumped me. When Matt Bowman moved away. When I dumped Josh…" Kim took hold of his hand. "You helped me get over them, just like you're helping Tara get over Brick." She gave him a slight peck on the cheek, "That's for being such a nice guy."

Ron blushed, smiling back at her, and ran his fingers over the spot on his cheek. "Thanks Kim. I knew you'd understand."

'Next time kiss her back,' The little voice inside his head said, 'and maybe cop a feel too.'  
'Shut up.'

Kim pulled a folded piece of paper out of her notebook and handed it to Ron.

"What's this?" He asked as he opened it.

"The answers to today's Trig homework." She said quietly.

"Sweet!" Ron celebrated, the answers from KP that had to be an 'A' for sure. "Thanks KP."

"I did it up so you'd get a C minus, didn't want to make it look too obvious."

Ron's happy mood dulled a bit, "C minus?" Tara had given him a B minus. 'Oh well,' he thought, 'KP doesn't like cheating. So of course she wouldn't want to make it obvious.' Ron stuffed Kim's note into his pocket along with the one Tara had given him earlier.

The period bell rang and Kim, along with Ron, headed for Chemistry. Neither of them noticed Bonnie stepping around the corner, an evil smile stretching across her face.

Current

Bonnie was still smirking as she sat down into her seat in Current Events, a chump class to say the least.

"What's got you so happy today Bonnie?" Tara asked.

Bonnie turned to her fellow cheerleader, "Kim and Ron."

"What about them?" Tara asked, since when did Kim and Ron do anything that could make Bonnie happy.

"They're in for a surprise when they get to Trig class. It turns out that Kimmie, get this, is helping the loser cheat on his homework."

"Kim wouldn't do that." Tara said.

"I know what I heard and saw," Bonnie explained. "She gave him the answers. Of course it's only a 'C minus' but it's still cheating. Mr. Barkin is going to rip them apart." Bonnie smiled, seeing Kim humiliated would make her day.

"You already told him?" Tara asked.

"Yep." Bonnie replied smugly. "So you weren't at Bobby's party Friday night. What'd you do, stay home again?" Tara needed to get over herself. What Brick had done to her paled in comparison to what he had done with Bonnie. Although no one knew, and no one would ever know (if Bonnie had her way) the truth.

"No. I hung out at Bueno Nacho with Monique and Ron…" Tara almost caught herself, but it was too late, Bonnie heard.

Bonnie's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "You hung out with the freak?"

"Ron isn't a freak Bonnie." Tara said indignantly, attempting to defend him. "He's a really nice guy…" Her voice trailed off, noticing the other students listening in on her conversation, admitting. "He's a bit eccentric…"

"Eccentric?" Bonnie snapped, her face twisted with displeasure. "He's got that freaky naked rat thing…"

"Rufus." Tara said soothingly.

"Whatever!" Bonnie threw her hands out in a dismissive wave, grumbling. "It's disgusting!"

"I think he's cute."

Bonnie shuddered and felt a chill rush through her body as she remembered all the times that Rufus had even touched her, and that ever so freaky dream she had about him. "Ugh."

Home Economics

Ron and Kim parted ways after Chemistry, she had dropped Home Ec to take Photography. "See you later Ron."

"Later KP." Ron said as he stepped into the classroom, turning for one last look at Kim's _back_ as she walked away down the hall.

'Shake it baby.'  
'Shut up.'

"Hey, Ron?" Ron turned from his staring to see Tara standing looking him over.

"Oh, hi Tara." He said as he walked to his seat, sitting down.

"We need to talk."


	21. Inch On

Home Ec

"What's up Tara?" Ron asked, only half turning his head toward her.

"You can't turn in your trig homework." She answered, leaning her head close to, but not over, his shoulder.

"What?" He nearly shouted, drawing the attention of Ms. Purcell. He fully turned in his seat and asked in a whisper. "Why not?"

She whispered back, "Bonnie told Mr. B that Kim did it for you, did she?"

"Well, yeah." He paused, "She gave it to me just after you left."

'You wish she'd give it to you.'  
'Shut up.'

"Break it up you two." Ms. Purcell called from the front of the room.

"Sorry, Ms. Purcell." Ron and Tara said in unison, both of them blushing slightly.

"Good. Now today we'll be working on, Chocolate Dream Crepes." An excited murmur spread through the room; the crepes were a class favorite. "You'll be working with a partner on this, which I'll be assigning you. Gail, Susan pair up. Julie, Amy you're together. Gloria, you're with Wendy. Samantha, why don't you and Andrea pair up. So, I guess that leaves…Ron and Tara." Ms. Purcell pointed a finger at the pair, "I expect you two to work, not talk. Ok. Now, let's get cooking."

Ms. Purcell had her hands full helping the class; the Chocolate Dream Crepes weren't an easy confection to make. Well, actually she didn't have to help everyone in the class…Ron didn't need, or really want, any help from her. He and Tara were well ahead of the other groups by the time Ms. Purcell checked in on them. "You're doing excellent as always Ron."

"Thanks, Ms. Purcell." Ron may not have liked her much, but he was still respectful of her.

Photographic

"Okay, hold it." Bonnie clicked the shutter-control on her camera, "Good! One more shot and we're done."

"It's about time." Josh said as he posed naked, but half covered, on a bed. "You know I wouldn't do this for just anyone Bonnie."

"Yeah, yeah. Just arch your back a little more." Josh adjusted his pose. "I said your **back **Josh! These are for class, not me."

Josh stood up and began walking over to her, the sheet that had previously covered his manhood trailing along behind him on the floor. "You love it, you know you do." Bonnie's thumb reflexively pressed down on the shutter-control, capturing a short series of 'standing nude' photos on film.

"Oh…Josh." Bonnie felt herself being drawn, as if by some unseen force, toward him.

"Here's your robe!" Josh stumbled back a step as the heavy terrycloth robe landed with a slight thump on his head, drooping down over his chest.

"Possible!" Bonnie turned, scowling at Kim. "This room is taken."

"Yeah, by me." Kim tapped her chest with a finger, before jerking her thumb toward the door. "You and the 'Angry Inch' can go get it on somewhere else."

Josh pulled on the robe and took Bonnie by the shoulder, guiding her out of the room. "Kim's right Bonnie, let's go."

Kim smirked silently as she began to set up her subject, _Rufus with Cuddle Buddies_. "Do a good job Rufus and I'll make sure Ron gets you a Naco after school."

Rufus gave her a big thumbs up, "Naco!"

Sir, No Sir!

Ron hurried through the halls between classes. He had to get to Trigonometry fast, before it was too late.

"Hey KP, I brought you a crepe." He placed the (only partially melted) chocolate covered, ice cream filled, desert on her desk.

"And I brought you a Rufus." She teased as she handed him back.

"Buddy!" Ron and Rufus exchanged a happy greeting before Rufus scampered down to his favorite pocket.

Kim picked up the fork and took a bite, "Mmm…this is _sooo_ good." She missed having the chance to sample Ron's creations on a daily basis; but, he took serious her threat about him trying to fatten her up. He only brought her samples when they were something special…and this certainly qualified.

"Eyes front!"

Kim and Ron, along with most of the other students in class, snapped back in their seats. Mr. Barkin was at the head of the class. "What's he doing here?" Kim asked quietly.

Ron leaned over to her and whispered, "Play it cool."

Mr. Barkin strode toward Ron's desk, "It would seem that we have a couple of cheaters," his eyes darting back and forth between Kim and Ron, "In class today." He paused briefly at Kim's to _confiscate _the crepe. "Stoppable! Homework. On your desk. Now!"

Ron opened his Trig notebook and pulled a single sheet of paper out laying it flat on his desk. "There you go Mr. B."

"What are you trying to pull?" Mr. Barkin asked, seeing that Ron had only done the first of the twenty-one assigned problems. "Where's the rest of it?"

"That's all I got done." Ron answered flatly.

Mr. Barkin looked over to Bonnie, and then back to Ron. "Empty your pockets."

"My pockets?" Ron asked.

"Pronto mister!" Barkin snapped.

Ron stood up and began the arduous task of emptying his pockets onto his desk. Starting with his back pocket, a Wallet. The left front, some loose change and gum. The left cargo, some Diablo sauce and a half eaten burrito. 'How'd that get in there?' The right cargo, Rufus. He stuck a hand in the torn right front pocket, knowing that it couldn't hold anything - it didn't have a bottom- before drawing it out empty. "Is that everything Stoppable?"

"Yep." Ron answered, giving Rufus a dirty look for snacking on **_his_** burrito.

"He's lying Mr. B." Bonnie said from her seat. "I saw him put it in there earlier…check them for yourself."

"I'm not putting my hands on him, state law." Mr. Barkin stepped back with his hands raised to just under shoulder height.

"I'll do it myself then." Bonnie stood up, pushed her way past Mr. Barkin and began to check Ron's pockets.

Seeing Bonnie putting her hands all over Ron, the loser, drew giggles from the class. Ron's comment to her as she checked his right front pocket incited loud, raucous laughter. "That's not homework you're holding on to now, Bonnie."

'What a day to go free-balling.' The little voice gleefully noted.  
'You said it.' Ron silently agreed.

Bonnie withdrew her hand hastily, with a disgusted look on her face…disgusted but surprised. Ron was no 'Angry Inch.'

"It seems that I was given some false information Stoppable." Mr. Barkin paused and turned to Bonnie. "Rockwaller, you've got detention for a week." She didn't seem to hear him though. "Possible. It would appear that you got lucky this time." He leaned down to her, his face mere inches from hers. "…I take a **very** dim view of cheaters."

Kim shrank back into her seat, confirming the accusation more than denying it, stammering out her response. "Y-Yes sir. Mr. Barkin. Sir."

"Stoppable, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the school's **official** tutoring program. Unless we can have a volunteer from the class." Mr. Barkin gave a causal glance about the room. Only one student raised her hand. He let out a slight huff, "Get real Rockwaller…"


	22. One Boy, One Girl

Lunch

It wasn't until Kim and Ron were in line at lunch that she asked him just what, exactly, went down in Trigonometry. "So how did you know that Barkin knew that I gave you the answers?"

Ron took a breath, "Tara told me in Home Ec." He picked up his tray and immediately regretted not calling ahead for the kosher meal.

"How'd she know?" Kim asked, still harboring some concern regarding Tara's recent behavior toward Ron.

"Bonnie told her that she saw you giving it to me." He said as they sat down at their usual table.

'You wish she'd give it to you.' The little voice teased.  
'You already used that one.' Ron pointed out.  
'Uh…never mind.'

Ron smirked and chuckled to himself.

Kim was seething, "That _tramp_, when I see her I'm going to…"

"Hey Kim, Ron." It was Andrew Mathews, Kim's current boyfriend.

"Andy." Kim and Ron both greeted him.

"Missed you Saturday night." He sat down next to Kim, and gave her a small peck on the cheek.

"Not as much as I missed you." She cooed back, flittering her eyelashes at him. He leaned in and quickly kissed her again.

Ron rolled his eyes, "Enough already with the PDA guys. I'm trying to eat over here."

"Sorry if we're ruining your appetite, Ron." Andy said, looking in disgust at the brownish-green ooze on Ron's plate. "We'll try and keep it to a minimum while you eat…that."

Monique

Monique was on her way to the cafeteria when her cell phone started buzzing. She ducked into the girls' bathroom to answer it. "Hello?"

"Dr. D wanted to let you know…" Shego began.

"I told him **never** call me at this number!" Monique snapped. "What if **she** were here? Huh?" She took a quick glance under the stalls, the room was empty, she was alone. "How would that look?"

"Jeez. Calm down." Shego said, attempting to allay the situation. "A person might get the idea that you're nervous Monique."

"Nervous? Who me?" Shego could hear the anxiety in her voice, it was _so_ obvious.

"Relax…You're doing fine. It'll all be over soon." Shego spoke in a soothing tone. "You'll be fine, trust me…"

"Trust you?" Monique asked wryly. "Uh huh sure. That'll happen."

"Whatever. Dr. D wants you to work on the whole," her eyes rolled as she passed the instructions on, "_Kim has feelings for Ron _thing." Why they couldn't just deal with Kimmie in a more conventional manner was beyond her. Although she had to admit, this was fun. In a twisted _running over kittens_ kind of way, so she wasn't going to complain…much.

"Don't you go worrying your green self about that. I'll work it, work it real good." Monique flipped her phone shut and walked out of the washroom, headed for lunch.

Tara

Tara stepped quietly into the cafeteria; she had been avoiding Bonnie, with good reason, ever since Trigonometry. She looked around the crowded room for someplace to sit. Someplace _safe_. Her eyes scanning the various tables, 'Too many geeks, too many jocks, _Bonnie_.' She shuddered as their eyes met, an icy cold glare from her friend convincing her to look elsewhere. She once again began to scan the familiar faces, looking for a certain face in particular. 'Ron…' She found him, 'Sitting with Kim of course and... Andy?'

Was she ready for this? To sit with Ron when her brother was right there? Would he notice? Would he approve? She took a cleansing breath and walked over to the table.

"Mind if I sit with you guys?" She asked, smiling brightly.

There was no discussion necessary; although she wasn't a regular at the table she was welcome. "Sure, grab a seat." Andy said, motioning to the chairs on his right.

There were three empty seats for her to chose from, one next to her brother, one next to Ron, and one in-between those two. She considered her choices, and sat down next to Ron.

Kim's eyes narrowed, burning a hole straight through the blonde's pretty little head. From across the room Bonnie glared back at Kim, who she thought was glaring at her. If only she knew the truth…

Andy and Ron both noticed the change in Kim's mood; neither knew the cause, not that they would believe it if they did. Both of the boys knew her well; one as a friend of over twelve years, the other as a boyfriend of just over two months. "You ok?" They asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Kim lightly shook her head from side-to-side and blinked her eyes, before settling back into a relaxed state.

"You sure, KP?" Ron asked.

"I'm fine. It's just Bonnie, she's…" Kim paused, searching for the proper word.

"She's so **mean**." Tara finished, stealing a backward glance at her _friend_. "It's not like she's never cheated before or anything."

A Fifth

Monique walked up to the table and sat down next to Andy, she wanted to give Tara and Ron their space. "Hey all. Did I miss anything?"

"Nothing much." Was the general consensus from the four occupants. There was a period of shared small talk before the conversations broke down into two groups. Kim, Andy and Monique in one. Ron and Tara in the other.

"So are you going to check into a tutor for Trigonometry, Ron?" Tara asked leaning toward him slightly, although not unintentionally. Her eyes attempting to catch his.

"I figured I'd head down during Study Hall, see if I can get something lined up." Ron said, not noticing the shrinking distance between them.

"Hopefully they have someone for you." Tara said, quietly scooting her chair slightly closer to his. His eyes met hers and for a brief instance in time, everyone else disappeared. It was just the two of them, alone.


	23. Unwrapped

Unwrapped

It was the softest kiss she had ever felt, his lips fluttered against hers for just a second, then withdrew. The spicy taste of salsa lingered on her lips as she found herself looking once again into his gingerbread-brown eyes. "You're all I'll ever need, Tara." He murmured seductively as he rested his hand gently on her bare knee, moving it slowly up her thigh. She responded with a barely audible "mm-hmm."

"Tara?" Ron said, now speaking with Monique's voice.

"Hunh?" Tara responded as her daydream slowly shattered. She turned away from Ron, who was concentrating on gaining an advantage over the wrapper on a candy bar, to Monique.

Monique lightly snickered, "I see that someone had _something_," barely nodding her head in the general direction of Ron, "on her mind…again." Monique gave the beautiful blonde a sly wink. "I said, will you pass the salt please Tara."

Tara's face flushed a deep crimson as she passed the saltshaker to Monique. "Sorry."

"Speaking of Ron." Monique said in a loud enough voice to gain the attention of everyone at the table. "You pumped for the GWA Thursday night, or what?" Kim and Andy, upon hearing the topic GWA, quickly went back to playfully flirting with each other.

"You know it Monique." Ron replied, his mouth filled with the creamy nougat of a Three Musketeers bar.

"So, do you still need a ride?" Monique asked, wondering just how far Ron would be willing to go to avoid riding his moped to Upperton. "Or should I just meet you there?"

"Yes, I still need a ride." Pausing to shake his head disapprovingly at Kim and Andy. "And, yes…I'll _even _wear a-a _Pain King _T-shirt."

Two to Tutor

Ron was headed back to the cafeteria for Study Hall after making it through another class, Communications, the last of the day for him; except on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when his sixth period Study Hall would be replaced with PE. Ron loved ending his day at school with two consecutive Study Halls, doing absolutely nothing. Or at least it could be said that he used to enjoy it. Now, thanks in small part to Kim, he would have to spend seventh period, ugh_…studying_. If he could find a tutor that is, he never had much luck with them. Most quit, usually in tears, after only one session. Kim was the only person he knew that could handle his _unique_ study habits.

After Ms. Skipp took roll Ron walked up to her desk and asked for a hall pass. "I'm supposed to go see Mr. Dahle to arrange a Trigonometry tutor."

Ms. Skipp filled out the pink slip of paper and held it out to him. "You go straight there and come straight back." She pointed an arthritic finger at him threateningly. "No skipping out to Bueno Nacho. Got it?"

"Yes, Ms. Skipp." Ron tried to smile as he took the slip. He walked down the hall toward the Guidance Counselor's office, passing by the Principal's office on his way. He glanced into the outer office and saw Tara sitting, waiting. He stopped and poked his head in, "Hey Tara, everything ok?"

She turned to him, her cheeks taking on a more pinkish tone. "Yeah, I just have to get Mr. B's permission for an extracurric I wanna sign up for."

'Ok, she's not in trouble or anything, that's good.' Ron nodded his head. "Cool. See you later."

"Bye, Ron." He had no sooner walked away than Mr. Barkin stepped out and motioned Tara into his office.

"What can I do for you, Ms. Mathews?" Pointing her to the wooden chair on the public side of his desk.

She sat down gingerly and carefully adjusted the hem of her short skirt. "I want to sign up as a tutor."

Barkin raised an eyebrow, 'Tara Mathews…wants to tutor?' He accessed her file on his computer, checking over her grades and attendance; both of which, while not exemplary, were acceptable. "Well I don't see any reason why I shouldn't let you. What period did you want to be assigned to?"

"Well I have Study Hall seventh period everyday, would that be ok?" She asked.

"That would be fine; we're in desperate need of quality tutors." He signed the necessary paperwork and gave her a copy. "Just get your parent's signatures and we'll get you setup ASAP."

"I will. Thanks Mr. B, uhh, I mean, Mr. Barkin." She smiled apologetically as she stood up and headed for the door.

"One more thing," He asked. "What class did you want to tutor?" A pen held at the ready to fill in the necessary blank on the form.

She turned back and gave him her one word answer, "Trig."

x.

Ron finally made it to the Guidance Counselor's office; it had taken him nearly 15 minutes. "About time you got here Ronald." Mr. Dahle said, looking at the sign-out time on Ron's hall pass.

"Sorry about that." Ron sat down in the padded chair situated off the front corner of the small metal desk.

"Now, what did you need to see me about?" He asked lightly.

"I need a tutor."

The mood in the room immediately darkened, Dahle ran his fingers through his thinning hair. "A tutor?" he sighed, exasperated. Then quietly, speaking more to himself than to Ron. "Why didn't I listen to mother? She wanted me to be a ditch digger, like father."

"What?" Ron leaned forward in the chair, in an attempt to better hear Mr. Dahle.

"Nothing." Mr. Dahle turned to his workstation. "A tutor you say? What class?"

"Trigonometry."

"Hmm. Let me check." He accessed the _Tutor schedule _database; silently running two fingers down the screen, checking columns against each other. "Sorry Ron, we don't seem to have any tutors currently available." He turned back. "But, I'll tell you what. I'm going to put you on our list; if a tutor becomes available…I'll let you know. Ok?"

Ron sank despairingly into the chair, "Great…I may as well just drop out. There's no way I'm **ever** going to pass Trig on my own."

Mr. Dahle stood up, walked around his desk, and sat down on the front corner of it. "Don't let it get you down Ron. Just try and do your best. I'll let your teacher know the situation. Maybe you two can work something out."

The Invite

Ron spent most of the last period in school doodling in his notebook. Drawing crude sketches of girls (most of which bore a striking resemblance to KP). Making lists of things to do; goals for the remainder of the year. Things like that. Jotting them down with his pencil as he thought of them.

'Pass Trig'  
'Get a part-time job'  
'Get a car'  
'Score…'

'With KP?' The little voice wondered suggestively.  
'Don't you ever shut up?' Ron asked, dropping his head onto the desk. Where it would remain for the next 32 minutes.

The final bell of the day sounded at 3:15, Ron jumped up and quite literally ran to his locker. He wanted to catch KP before she headed for cheer practice. He sprinted up the hall to his locker, narrowly avoiding knocking down several other students. "KP!" He leaned onto his locker, out of breath.

Kim turned to him, "What's up with the running Ron?"

"I'm totally goat-holed KP, that's what." Kim frowned at Ron's use of pseudo-profanity. "They don't have any tutors for me. What am I supposed to do?"

"Your homework for starters." Kim suggested, obviously. Before suddenly remembering about Wednesday. "Hey! You know. By the way…My dad said that Wednesday, while he and mom are out, you could _come over_." She sounded much _happier_ than she normally did when she invited him over. He put it off as her being grounded, maybe even a bit lonely, and not wanting to spend all night alone with the tweebs. "You know, if you wanted to. Maybe you could bring your homework along?"

"I wouldn't recommend it Stoppable." Mr. Barkin said as he passed by the duo.

"Wouldn't think of it Mr. B." Ron said cheerily, dying on the inside, a false smile stretching across his face.

"I thought not." He stopped and turned back to Ron, drawing his lower right eyelid down slightly with a fingertip. "I'll be keeping my eye on the two of you."

"Good to know, Mr. B." Ron said, pointing a friendly finger at him before giving him a thumbs up.


	24. The Rules

The Rules

It was a routine and rather quiet cheer practice, especially without Bonnie there. Kim had just finished leading the squad in the final cheer of the day. "Ok girls…and Ron…great practice. See you all again tomorrow same time, same place."

Most of the squad packed up their pompoms and headed quickly to the locker room to get changed. Soon only Kim, Ron, and Tara were left in the gymnasium. Ron was over on the bleachers changing out of his uniform. He also had to clean up the banana crème foam from his 'foaming at the mouth' routine; the janitorial staff had made sure of that.

"Kim?"

"Tara, what's up?" Kim asked, stuffing her pompoms into her gymbag.

Tara glanced over toward Ron for a second and then down at the floor, before lifting her eyes to Kim. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. As captain I'm always here for the squad." Kim turned and headed for the bleachers, figuring that she could change her shoes while they talked.

Tara followed her over and sat down next to her. "This isn't about the squad," she said, nervously biting her lip, "it's about Ron."

"Ron?" Kim asked in a loud voice, so loud in fact that Ron turned his head to see if she needed him. Kim waved him off, back to what he was doing.

'Hmm, I guess not.' Ron thought to himself before turning his attention back to the sticky banana crème on the hard maplewood floorboards.

"What's he like? I mean, y'know, outside of school… When he isn't trying to be nice and sweet and attentive and..." She calmed herself, she was revealing too much. "When he's just... _normal_."

'Normal? There's a word not used to describe him very often.' Kim took a look at her friend diligently scrubbing away on one of the last spots of crème. "Well, Tara. With Ron what you see is what you get. Usually. He's a genuine person, he doesn't act a certain way around certain people just to fit in. He's always been who he is, a sweet caring guy." Kim blushed a bit. "He's always been there for me when I needed him. He's helped me through a lot of bad times and _breakups_."

"Have you ever thought of dating him?" Tara stole a glance over at Ron, who was currently facing away from them on his hands and knees; she smiled a slight smile as she took in the view.

"Me and Ron? _On a **date**_?" She and Ron were best friends, nothing more. Besides that, she was going out with Andy.

"Yeah."

"No." Kim admitted, Tara let a brief smile find its home on her lips. "That'd be _way_ against the rules… Ron is **big** on the rules." Tara's smile left as quickly as it came, her eyes saddening.

"Oh…" Tara stood up and started walking away, not noticing the look of pleasure in Kim's eyes.

Ride? Redux

"Let's go Kimberly." Her dad called to her through the open passenger window.

"Just a sec daddy." Kim turned back to Ron, who was holding her backpack for her. "Are you going to come over Wednesday night?"

Ron shuffled his feet a bit, "Of course KP, I wouldn't miss it."

"Kimberly. Now."

"Ok." Kim grumbled, before taking her backpack and stepping into the car. "Can we give Ron a ride home?" She asked.

Mr. Possible tapped his finger on a button, locking the doors, "No."

"No!" Kim snapped, turning away from her father to Ron, apologetically. "I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"Sure thing KP. See you tomorrow." Ron waved sadly as he watched them pull away; Kim looked back at him through the rear window, watching as he grew smaller and smaller in her field of view.

"You need a ride?" A sweet feminine voice asked.

Ron turned, easily recognizing the voice of who was asking.

Kim, having not let Ron out of her sight, saw the baby blue Volkswagen pull up next to him. She also saw him take a step toward it and say something, _'Is that a smile on his face?'_

Mr. P turned the corner, putting an abrupt end to her surveillance.

Bonfire

"Don't forget Ms. Rockwaller. Tomorrow same time, same place."

Bonnie stepped roughly past Mr. Barkin, "Whatever!" and into the hallway. She was fuming; spending time with the losers in detention wasn't high on her list of things to do. The current top priority on her list was… Tara. She was going to be made to **pay**.

RR 2

"Thanks, Tara," Ron leaned down to the open window, "but, I think I'll just walk home today."

"Oh, okay…" Her voice was low, sad. Ron noticed.

"You ok?"

"Yeah… It's just… Nothing." She perked up a touch and turned away from him. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Ron took a longer look at her, his eyes picking up the telltale signs with which he was so familiar. He rested his hand on top of the door, tapping it once, before stepping back. "Bye, Tara."

"Bye." She signaled, checked her mirrors, and pulled away from the curb.

Ron stepped back onto the sidewalk and started for home, taking one last look at Tara's car as she drove away.

In Kind

Bonnie flipped her hair playfully as she leaned against the locker. "So can you take care of my little… _problem_, Chris?"

"I'll think about it." He closed his locker and pulled his truck keys out of his pocket. "I'm going to need a good reason for doing it though."

She leaned closer to him, running her hand under his chin. "I'll give you plenty of _reason_, **after** you do it."

He smirked, "I guess we have a deal then Bon-bon."


	25. Breaking the Rules

Scraps

Kim sat in her room doing homework; her parents were taking this grounding thing way too seriously for her taste. 'If it weren't for the fact that my day has been tweebless so far I'd consider this to be cruel and unusual punishment.' She closed up her Trig book, deciding to take a short break from studying. 'I wonder how Ron is doing on his homework.'

Kim picked up the phone to call him, only to notice that the _line in use _light was on. 'Maybe later.' She decided, setting the phone back into its charging cradle.

She walked over to her dresser and opened the top drawer, the drawer where she kept her _unmentionables_, pulling a scrapbook out from beneath the collection of lacy garments. She carried the tome over to her bed and sat down, idly flipping through the pages. Most of the photos and items contained within were from years ago, when she was just a child, before she started going on missions. 'I haven't looked at this in a long time… too long.' Memories, both good and bad, came flooding back as she revisited her past.

Tears fell from her eyes as she looked over a page from just two years ago. One of the last pages she had put in. When she had lost her best friend, 'correction, my best _girl _friend.'

"…Sarah…" Her voice barely audible.

Ron had stayed with her through the entire ordeal, from the long days spent sitting in the hospital, to the funeral, to the final acceptance of loss. 'I don't know what I'd have done without you by my side Ron.'

Kim stood up, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, and walked over to her desk picking up a recent photograph of Ron from it. She leaned back against the edge of the desktop, just looking at his face. Studying it, memorizing it. 'Could it be? Are we supposed to be more than just _best friends_?' She ran a finger across the smooth glass, following the line of his jaw. 'I wish I knew the answer.'

Mirror

Tara skipped her normal routine of studying in the living room, opting instead to sequester herself in her bedroom. She sat at her desk _studying_ last year's Middleton High annual, looking at the photo spread of the cheer squad. Looking at Ron, looking at him looking at Kim. In _every_ photo. 'They're supposed to be best friends, and just best friends. It isn't fair.'

She pushed back from her desk and stood up, placing the book back onto its shelf, stepping over to her dressing mirror. Standing silently, looking at herself, questioning. Was she _that_ different from Kim? She unbuttoned her shirt and took it off. 'Mine aren't any bigger than hers.' She turned slightly sideways to the mirror. 'Maybe not as pointy, but not any bigger.'

Tara's fingers ran through her hair, it was longer than Kim's but not by much. She pulled it up into a ponytail, exposing her slender neck and delicate ears. 'I should wear my hair like this. Maybe he'd notice me then.'

She never expected to fall so hard so fast. Not for a guy like him. Not for Ron Stoppable. 'Could I ever be more than just a friend to him?' She lay back onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. 'I wish I knew the answer.'

Phone

Ron had been working on his Trig homework for the last hour and a half. He was fairly certain that he had gotten at least 2 of the 4 problems solved correctly. He glanced over at the clock, 'Five o'clock. Maybe I should make that phone call.' He reached over and picked up his phone, dialing _her_ number.

"Hello?" A male voice answered.

Ron hadn't been expecting this, "Andy?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"It's Ron… Ron Stoppable."

"Oh, hi Ron. Did you want to talk to Tara?"

Flustered, Ron stammered. "N-no, I, uh, is your dad there? I was supposed to… He wanted to talk to me about something."

"No, he isn't here. He's out of town on business until Wednesday." Andy explained before asking, "Are you **_sure_** you didn't want to talk to Tara?"

"Why would I want to do that?" Ron asked. "I mean, why would you think I, that I called to talk to her?"

Andy chuckled, "Ron it's ok. I know you two hung out together Friday and Saturday. And today at school, you think I didn't notice how she sat next to you? It's cool with me if you like her, because…"

Ron blushed, this was going all wrong; he panicked, hanging up the phone.

"He hung up, I can't believe it." Andy said, to himself, as he clicked off the phone on his end.

"Andy will you go upstairs and get your sister? Dinner is almost ready."

"Sure thing mom." Andy started up the stairs to Tara's room. He knocked on her door, "Tara? Dinner's ready."

Tara sat up on her bed, "Ok Andy, I'll be down in a minute. I just have to put on a top."

Call

Tara had just brought the last of the dishes in from the dining room, setting them on the counter next to the sink for Andy to wash. "This is the last of the dishes Andy."

He picked up the stack and set them in the sink to soak. "Ron called."

Tara's eyes lit up, "He did?"

"Yeah," Andy chuckled, "He claimed to want to talk to dad, but I think he was calling for you."

"Why would he want to talk to dad?" Tara asked, confused.

Andy shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno, he said that dad had wanted to talk to him about something."

"Was he going to call back?"

"I don't know, he got nervous or something and hung up on me. You could always call _him_ back."

"No, I'll see him at school tomorrow." Tara started out of the kitchen toward the living room. "I can talk to him then."


	26. Nighty Night

Time

Mr. Stoppable looked into the TV room at his son who had been sitting in that same spot for the last 5 hours; not watching television, he had instead been watching… the telephone? He shook his head, wondering just what had gotten into the boy this time. Deciding that it was too late in the night for a conversation he instead stepped in and told Ron to go to bed.

Ron looked up at him from his spot on the end of the sofa, "Just five more minutes dad."

His dad said nothing as he tilted his head down and stared at Ron over the top of his glasses.

"4 more minutes?" Ron asked.

"Ronald…" His father said in a slow even tone.

Ron curled his lower lip down and out, letting his eyes go wide and sad. He was using the dreaded Puppy Dog Pout. "3 more? Pwease?"

George Stoppable raised an eyebrow, 'what is that ridiculous look for?' "No. Go to bed…**now**. It's a school night, and it's late."

Sighing defeatedly, Ron stood up and headed for his room. Once there he quickly undressed, getting ready for bed. "Why did I think she'd call me back?"

'Is it because you're an idiot?' The little voice asked.  
'Shut up.'

He looked over to Rufus, who was also going through his own bedtime ritual. "What do you think buddy?"

Rufus pondered the sitch, scratching his chin for just a second. "Waiting for you to call her," he squeaked out.

An open palm slapped against Ron's forehead. "She was waiting for me to call her… I'm such an idiot."

'Thankyouverymuch.'  
'Shut up.'

Ron sat down on the edge of his bed. "I remember the same thing happened when I tried calling KP that one time in Pre-K. I hung up then too. I was so nervous and she was amped, neither of us daring to call the other one back. Of course, looking back now…" He chuckled. "The next day was funny…she thought that I…" Ron went wide eyed, as a sudden realization hit him. "Oh - BEEP BOOP.

His declaration interrupted, Ron picked up his newly delivered Ronnunicator. 'Why KP thought I needed this is beyond me.' Clicking it on he asked. "Wade, what up?"

"Kim wanted me to tell you that she wants you to do her…

'Ooh-la-la.'  
'Shut up.'

…a favor after school tomorrow."

"Ok. No problem Wade." Ron paused. "Wade?"

"Yeah Ron?" He asked, taking a sip of soda.

"Why didn't she just call and ask me herself?"

"She couldn't." Wade started to explain. "Jim and Tim short circuited the phone lines in their house trying to use their latest test version of Professor Dementor's Transportulator." Wade smirked, "…except they didn't have an adapter. So they used a fork."

Ron smiled briefly, "She coulda just beeped me y'know, on my… _Ronnunicator_."

Wade shook his head, "The direct link between them isn't set up yet. I should have it fully functional by tomorrow afternoon."

"Cool." Ron yawned widely, "G'night, Wade."

"Night, Ron." Wade said before switching off the link.

All Hours

Debbie Mathews walked into the living room, dressed and quite ready for bed. Tara, who had been sitting by the phone ever since dinner, looking ready to pounce on it should it dare to ring, was now sleeping peacefully, curled up like a kitten, in the oversized lodge chair. Her mother stood quietly smiling. 'She hasn't fallen asleep by the phone waiting for a boy to call in so long.' She jostled her shoulder gently. "Tara, go to bed. No one is going to be calling at this hour of the night."

Tara stretched, yawning, the chair was large and well padded making it a very comfortable place to sleep. "What time is it?"

"It's almost 11:30."

Tara's eyes blinked exaggeratedly as she yawned once more, before slumping back into the chair. She asked despondently, "Why didn't he call back? Doesn't he _like_ me?"

Mrs. Mathews leaned down over the back of the chair, wrapping her arms around her daughter in a hug. "Shhh. Give him some time sweetie. He's probably just nervous is all. I'm sure he'll talk to you tomorrow at school."

Tara smiled weakly, "You're probably right mom. Ron's always seemed a bit on edge…especially around girls." Her brow wrinkled as her eyes narrowed. 'Except when the girl he's around is Kim.'

Tara stood up, arching her back in another stretch, and started to head for bed. She was about halfway out of the living room when the phone let out its first ring. She was on it in an instant, answering it before it could ring a second time. "Ron!" She asked excitedly. The sparkle left her eyes when she realized it wasn't him. "Oh, hi daddy… Yes she is… Yes dad… No dad… I love you too… Goodnight… Here's mom." She handed the phone to her mother and trudged out of the room, giving her mom only a grunt in response to her 'goodnight.'

Ron was in bed, tossing and turning under the blankets, it was going to be another short night again tonight. 'Almost 11:30 and I have to be up before 7:00. Why can't I get to sleep?' He fitfully pushed back the bedspread and lay, eyes closed, exposed in the cool night air. 'Much better.'

After a few minutes he finally dozed off to sleep. A sleep that would be filled with pleasant, although weird, dreams.


	27. Alarming

Sunshine

Ron woke up to the sun streaming in through his window; rubbing the sleep from his eyes he checked the clock, "6:44. Right on schedule." He swung his feet over the edge to the floor as he sat up, twisting a kink out of his back before standing and stretching. "Remind me to tell mom and dad that I need a new mattress." A short 10 minute shower later and he was back in his room to get dressed, his usual Tuesday outfit lay ready for him to put on. Boxers first and then socks followed by a clean shirt and pants, khakis of course. He quickly finger-styled his hair and applied a single spritz of cologne before heading downstairs for a pre-breakfast snack.

"Good morning." He said cheerily, headed through the kitchen toward the refrigerator for a glass of OJ.

"A good morning to you too." His mom smiled as she handed him a warm blueberry muffin.

"You're up early today Ron, what's the occasion?" His dad asked, looking up only briefly from his morning paper.

"I wanted to get an early start today; KP and I are going to breakfast at Bueno Nacho." He said taking a bite off his muffin before bending down to slip on his shoes.

"I thought she was grounded until the weekend." His mom asked, slightly confused.

"No mom, Mr. P let her off early."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"Look at the time." Ron glanced at the clock, it was 7:02. "I've gotta jet."

"Have fun at school son." His dad said as Ron headed out the door.

KP…nice

Kim had been up for almost an hour, she was running behind schedule, her morning routine taking longer than normal. "I hate this long hair, it takes forever to brush out." She paused briefly, turning her head for a better look at herself in the mirror, "Maybe I should cut it shorter," before resuming her brushing. "Hmm… Ron likes it long. I'll ask him what I should do."

Finally satisfied with how her hair looked she stood up and went to get dressed. It was a special day and that called for a special outfit. A stunning new Club Banana Exclusive outfit to be exact. An _almost _too small semi-sheer red V-neck top along with _tight in all the right spots _black pants. Kim twisted in front of her floor length mirror, "Looking H-O-T… hot today KP." She smiled and headed downstairs, 'Ron should be here any minute now.'

She had just gotten to the bottom of the stairs when the doorbell rang, "I got it." She walked over and opened the door, "Hi Ron."

Ron stood slack-jawed his eyes moving rapidly yet randomly over her body, taking it all in. "wuuh. KP…nice."

"Heading to Bueno Nacho with Ron dad, later." She called back over her shoulder as she took Ron's hand and lead him out the door.

"Have fun Kimmie-cub." Her dad said, not looking up from his paper.

Today

Ron had slipped his hand from Kim's less than a block from the house, falling into step behind her, completely entranced by the 'hey Ron, hey Ron - look at me, look at me' shake in her butt. Her steps were light, she was happy. Today would be the day she told him. He would be hers…forever.

She looked up to find that the short trip to Bueno Nacho was already over, they had arrived. She stopped and Ron _accidentally _bumped into her. Startling her slightly, but in a good way.

She turned and, mocking disgust, chided him. "Ron!"

"Sorry KP." He blushed and looked down at his feet.

"It's ok," she smiled. "I know it was an _accident_."

The doors to Bueno Nacho opened and they walked in. Although the restaurant was packed with people their booth was still empty. 'Lucky for us,' Kim thought as she sat down in **her** side of** their** booth. Kim waited while Ron, gentleman that he was, went and ordered for them both. Shortly, he returned to the booth with their food and a _guest_.

'_That outfit doesn't leave much to the imagination…_' She was wearing light blue _way too short _shorts and a white spaghetti strap shirt. "Tara." Kim greeted her, her honey sweet voice dripping with hatred.

"You don't mind if she joins us do you KP?" Ron asked as he set the tray of food down, slipping into his side of the booth.

Kim smiled at her friend, although very weakly. "No…I- I don't mind." She edged over a bit and motioned for Tara to sit down next to her.

Tara giggled and instead sat down next to Ron, sliding in close to him. "Scoot over silly, I don't want to have to sit on your lap."

"Why not?" He asked, patting a hand on his knee.

"Because…" She began, turning toward Kim. "I know that KP would much rather sit there herself. Isn't that right Kim?"

Kim's lips moved to respond but no words came out. How could Tara ever say such a thing? And Ron? What was his issue today?

"It doesn't sound like Kim has a problem with it." Ron said, playfully grabbing Tara by the waist depositing her onto his lap.

Tara wiggled excitedly as she settled into her _seat_. "Ronnie…you've grown." She began giggling incessantly, all the while bouncing up and down on his lap.

Ron smiled across the table at Kim. "Come on KP…" He patted his hand once again on his knee. "There's room for one more." Somewhere in the hustle and bustle of the busy restaurant Kim heard a faint, but steadily increasing, beeping noise. "Last chance KP." He said, "Come on it'll be - BEEP - BEEP."

Pesadilla

Kim shot up in bed, her breath coming in short sharp gasps. Looking wildly around at her surroundings, eyes slowly adjusting. She began taking deep calming breaths, relaxing herself more and more. Taking in the fact that, 'It was only a dream. Only a dream.' She took one last deep breath, holding it for a long second before exhaling. "More like a nightmare."


	28. Wet Wet Wet

****

Great

Ron was walking to school _alone _again today, in the rain. 'Only 3 more days and I'll be able to walk with KP again.' He thought, leaning his head forward to shield his eyes from the falling drops.

"You want a ride?" A familiar, sweet as honey, voice asked.

"No thanks… Bonnie." He responded, not turning his head to look at her. 'She has some nerve, asking me if I want a ride. After what she did yesterday.'

"You shouldn't be walking in the rain… You'll catch cold."

"I'll be fine thanks." He continued down the sidewalk, not breaking his stride.

She accelerated the car past him and slowed down, opening the passenger door for him. "Get in Ron. I'm serious."

"So am I." He side-stepped to the right, and continued on his way. Leaving her behind him.

To say that Bonnie was mad… would be an understatement. She was livid. 'How could a **loser **like him ever think of turning me down? Especially after yesterday? So what if I snitched on his _girlfriend_? I grabbed his _thingy_…' Her face briefly showing a look that could be described as lustily disgusted. 'Doesn't that count for something? I mean, I'm probably the first **_girl_** that's ever touched it.'

She fixed her eyes on his back, locking onto target, as she slowly revved the engine. When he was in position she dropped the car back into gear and sped toward him, he was going to **pay**. She smiled as he turned to see the red rocket bearing down on him, his feet frozen to the ground unable to move. She laughed knowing that he wasn't going to escape her retribution.

He was trapped, like a deer in the headlights of a semi going 100 mph. 'Bonnie's actually going to do it.' Was the last thought that went through his head before the car hit…

The puddle.

Ron was drenched, soaked to the skin. 'Great. All wet. What a way to start the day…again.' He shook off as much of the water as he could and continued on his way. He'd have time to dry off in the bathroom before school, hopefully.

****

Dreamweaver

Ron slogged up the hall to his locker, wet footprints marking the path he walked. "Hey KP." He opened his locker and hung his backpack and jacket inside.

"Ron what happened to you? You're soaked." Kim asked, running a hand down his sleeve in a halfhearted attempt to dry him.

"I fell down." He lied, deciding that Kim had more than enough reasons to hate Bonnie already, she didn't need another.

"You need to be more careful Ron." She chastised.

"I know…" He turned slightly away from her, sounding hurt. "It's not like I _tried_ to fall down KP."

"Ron I…" She began softly, wanting to apologize.

He turned suddenly, a goofy grin threatening to split his head in two. "Gotcha KP!" He grabbed at his sides laughing, "You shoulda seen the look on your face… priceless."

"Very funny Ron." Kim blanched, mockingly laughing with him. "hardy har har."

Ron calmed taking on a serious look. "Sorry."

"Apology accepted… So, did you get my message?"

Ron nodded his head. "What did you need me to do?"

"Go to Club Banana and pick me up a bottle of lotion." Nonchalantly spoken as she grabbed her Chemistry book.

'Spank time!'  
'Shut up.'

Ron paled. What if Stacy were there? It would look really, _really_ weird for him to be buying _another _bottle. He whined. "Couldn't Monique get it for you?"

Kim pursed her lips, "Ron…"

Ron took a half-step back, blushing slightly, whining even more. "It'd be embarrassing. Me." He thumped a hand on his chest in an '_ugh… Me am a man' _manner. "Buying… _girlie _lotion." He had left her little choice, she used… _It_. "Not the pout!" He cringed, trying his best not to look at her.

"Pwease, Ronnie?" She pleaded playfully poking him in the ribs. "Pwease?"

He broke after only a few seconds. "_**Fine**_."

She smiled, well smirked actually, he was like putty in her hands. "Thanks, Ron." She handed him 30 dollars. "Get a small bottle… you can use the change and get yourself a smoothie."

Ron grimaced, "_Smoothie_."

"Or maybe a Naco instead." She quickly suggested.

He perked up, "Mmm Naco." Pausing, as if recalling a distant memory. "That reminds me… I had the _weirdest_ dream last night… about you. Well you and me actually."

Kim gulped her heart back into her chest. Had her dream been his too? Was it a shared dream? Were they _that_ in tune with each other? "Really?"

"Yeah. It was…it was… strange. Weird. We were at Bueno Nacho." He began. "We were in our booth." Kim smiled inwardly at his description of _their booth. _"I went up to order..."

'So far, so weird.' Kim thought, up to this point the dreams were identical.

"…Two burritos. But, when I got back to the table there was only one burrito on the tray." He shook his head. "It was weird… You grabbed the burrito and when I looked at the tray there was… there was a really small taco on it." He held his fingers about three inches apart, illustrating just how small the taco was. "And, get this… It was in a soft _flour_ tortilla. Isn't that whack?"

Kim nodded her head in agreement. "Whack."

"Anyways." Ron continued. "The taco, it didn't have any meat or lettuce on it, just some feather shredded cheddar cheese in one end and tomato slices in the other end."

A perplexed look graced Kim's face, did Ron know what this dream was about? 'Probably not.'

"I don't like veggie tacos, you know that, so I asked you if you wanted it. But you said 'no' and started nibbling on the burrito. Not really eating it, just _nibbling_. So I decided to try the taco, figuring if I didn't like it I could take it back."

"Take it back." Kim repeated, almost silently.

"Right, take it back." Ron nodded. "I took a bite of the cheese end. It was okay but not really that good. I mean I probably could have eaten it, but… For some reason I _really_ wanted to eat the tomatoes. I don't know why either…I hate tomatoes." He stuck his tongue out, _bleh_. "So I took a little, tiny bite."

"They were great!" He nearly shouted, throwing his arms out to the sides. "I couldn't stop eating them KP. The weird thing is… No matter how many I ate, I never got full and the taco, it never got smaller." Kim was squirming by now, having to listen to Ron describe his _dream_ to her. "Then Rufus jumped out of my pocket, squirted a bunch of sour cream all over the table… and I woke up." He finished anticlimactically, dropping his arms.

Kim was blushing, profusely. "Only _you _could have a dream like that Ron."


	29. Hang Ups

****

Forgiveness

Tara stood down the hall from Kim and Ron, not wanting to risk talking to _him_ with **_her_** around. She was absently curling a strand of long blonde hair around a finger, lost in thought. 'How'd he get all wet? …I hope he doesn't catch cold. Why is Kim blushing so much?'

"Tara?" The reticent voice of a familiar _friend_ asked from just behind her.

Startled, Tara nearly jumped out of her skin, "_Bonnie_. What do you want?" She asked suspiciously, turning her head back slightly to keep an eye on Ron.

"We need to talk." Bonnie took hold of Tara's arm and led her, quite unwillingly, away from her object of interest and into the girls' bathroom.

"Talk about what?" She asked, finally wrenching her wrist free of Bonnie's grip.

"Yesterday." Bonnie glanced down at her feet, seemingly ashamed to face her _friend_. "I was totally out of line. It's really none of my business what Kim and Ron do." She reached out and took Tara's right hand in hers. "Or what you do with him… _I'm sorry_." Glancing up, her eyes only briefly meeting Tara's, she asked. "Can you ever forgive me?"

At first Tara said nothing, just giving her friend a disbelieving look. "You're kidding right?" She finally asked, sarcastically. Bonnie's demeanor shifted, from that of a remorseful little girl to a woman scorned, her eyes narrowed and her free hand clenched into a tightly balled fist. "Of course I forgive you." Tara had a broad smile on her face as she pulled her friend into an affectionate hug.

Bonnie returned the hug, 'She actually bought it? She's even dumber than I thought,' squeezing her friend tightly. "This means so much to me. I don't what I'd do if I _ever_ lost you as my friend Tara."

Tara stepped back from her, "Bonnie we've been friends too long to let anything as insignificant as _Ron Stoppable _come between us. I don't know what I was thinking when I told on you… I'm sorry too."

Bonnie sprung forward and embraced her once again. "That is **_so_** nice of you to say." She pulled back and looked Tara in the eyes. "Do you want to hit the mall after school? Just you and me… like old times."

"I'd love to Bonnie." Tara said, smiling a genuinely false smile.

The period bell rang and Tara slung her book bag over her shoulder, she'd have to wait to drop it off at her locker until after Sociology. 'Bonnie must think I'm stupid. Like I'm actually going to believe her _apology_.' "We'd better get going Bonnie, we don't want to be late… and get detention."

Bonnie smiled and gave a slight chuckle in response to Tara's playful jibe. "Detention… right…"

****

By Any Other Name

Ron stood in the boys' bathroom, his shirt and pants hung over the walls of a toilet stall, drying himself off. 'I hope Tara didn't get the wrong idea about me calling… _not_ calling her last night. Why'd I hang up?' He was still fretting about his indecisiveness when the period bell rang. 'Oh man, I'm going to be late for Chemistry.' He pulled his still somewhat wet pants back on. 'I'm sure KP will try and cover for me though.'

'She's a real sweet tomato.' The little voice was back.  
'Shut up.'

Pulling his shirt on as he stepped out the bathroom to head for class he had to wonder. 'Sweet tomato? What's that got to do with KP?' Pushing the thought from his head he jogged down the hall and into Room 206. "Sorry I'm late Mrs. Hansen." Apologizing as he took his seat next to Kim.

"That's all right Ronald, Kim told me about your _accident_." She turned her back to the class and began to write out instructions on the blackboard. "Now that we're all here let's get started on today's assignment."

"Thanks KP." He whispered.

Kim lightly ran a finger across his arm, "It was no big, Ron."

****

Assignment

Monique sat in the library with a new PDA in hand, going over her schedule for the week. 'Let's see… Club Banana gets the shipment of lotion today; Since Kim hasn't asked me to get it for her. That means she probably asked Ron. Perfect.' She leaned back in her chair, resting her chin on her hand. 'Of course it is a **_long _**way to the mall, and since I'm sure he doesn't want to walk all the way there…' She smirked. 'He's going to need a ride, and I know just the person he can ask.'

**Hang Ups**

Ron hurried from Chemistry to Home Ec, completely skipping going back to his locker with Kim. He was hoping to talk with Tara before class started. He made it with time to spare, 'She's already here, good.' Walking in he gave her a nodded '_how_'_s-it-going_' before sitting down.

Tara, content to let him make the first move, went back to doodling in her notebook.

'Come on Ron. You can do it. Nothing to be nervous about.' He began to turn in his seat, before stopping halfway. 'What am I going to say? How can I tell her? What if she… What if she takes it the wrong way?' Deciding that he had to do it, no matter what, he turned to face her. "Tara."

She closed her notebook and looked up at him with a twinkle in her eyes and a hesitant smile on her lightly-glossed pink lips. "Ron."

He bit his lip, 'Does she _have_ to look at me like that?' and took a breath. "About last night…" She leaned in slightly, her eyes widening in anticipation. "When I called…" He paused. "…It was a mistake." Her eyes went wider, suddenly sad; she looked down and away.

"A mistake?" She choked out, her lower lip trembling.

Ron leaned in closer, dipping his head to look her in the eye. The twinkle was gone, replaced by brimming tears. He locked onto her baby blues. "I shouldn't have hung up…"


	30. Let's Go

Jive

Drakken was hunched over his workbench, carefully putting the finishing touches on what he considered to be his best invention. "I just need to connect the Tri-metucial Relay to the Microvoltometric Capacitor…" His hands moving gingerly as he twisted the last components into place. "…and…Viola." He snatched the now complete ray gun from the table. Taking casual aim at one of his henchmen, mocking the action of pulling the trigger. "Przzat, bzzap, I got you Kim Possible. Ha-ha." He began to stalk about the lair, laughing maniacally, taking aim at whoever dared to cross his path. "Bzzap, przzat, he-he."

Weather

"Reports of a new larger weather system moving into the Tri-City area have been confirmed by the Nation Weather Service. We can expect today's rainy weather to continue well into tomorrow evening. Already reports of minor flooding are pouring in from across the county. Travelers are urged to stay off side roads and out of low lying areas… Once again - Reports of a new…"

Mr. Possible had heard enough, he clicked off the TV. "I think maybe we should reconsider going to the conference. This weather isn't getting any better and I don't feel right leaving Kimberly and the boys here by themselves."

His wife poked her head out of the closet, where she had been searching for his red-striped paisley Armani tie. "A little rain never hurt anyone. I'm sure that Kimmie will be fine." She turned back in and began to search anew. "She's a very responsible young lady."

He harrumphed, "She wasn't _very responsible _last Friday night… When she was drinking beer with - _that_ _boy_."

Having found his misplaced tie Mrs. Possible stepped from the closet, a delighted look on her face. "Relax. Kim will do fine… Besides, Ronald will be here to keep an eye on her for us."

A Change

Ron was walking down the hall to his locker when a strong hand reached up from behind and seized his shoulder. "You got fifty cents for to buy a pop?"

Ron stopped and turned, having recognized the voice, "Hey Chris." He dug a hand into his pocket, pulling out the 30 dollars that Kim had given him along with some loose change, and sorted out two quarters. "Yeah, here ya go."

"Thanks Ron, I'll get ya taken care of on Friday." Chris took the coins and turned back up the hall. "Later days."

"Later bro-ha."

Turkey

More than two hours had passed since Dr Drakken started his _hunt_. He finally found his unsuspecting quarry, _Kim_ _Possible_. He took careful aim, steadied his hand, and gently squeezed the trigger. "Przzat, bzzap. I got you Kim Possible." The targeted lackey, having long since grown tired of feigning interest in the evil doctor's antics, continued to sit watching TV, his eyes not straying from the screen. "You're supposed to say, 'Argh, you got me Dr Drakken, you have defeated me, Argh.' and then slump down on the floor defeated."

"What are you doing?" A confused Shego asked. She had come into the room halfway through Drakken's 'Argh you got me' spiel.

Drakken quickly spun to face her, hiding the ray gun behind his back. "Shego… I didn't hear you come in."

"I'm sneaky like that, ninjas make more noise than me, remember?" She said, all the while strolling closer to him. "Whatcha got back there?" She asked darting her head to the side, attempting to see the hidden object.

Drakken revealed the weapon to her, displaying it proudly. "This Shego. This is the destruction of Team Possible… given substance."

Shego took the gun from his hand, giving it a cursory glance. "Really? It doesn't look very destructive… what's it do?" She was not impressed.

Drakken smiled a toothy grin, "It's a truth ray. It leaves the mind of the person it strikes completely uninhibited. They can't help but speak the truth."

Shego was quick to point out a piece of lettuce stuck between his teeth, and when his attention was diverted she struck. Blasting him point blank in the chest with the ray.

"Shego w-why did you…" What awful things was Shego going to force him to reveal about himself?

"Call it payback… for the mind control chip." She said with a thin smile.

"You sure do got a pretty mouth." Drakken blurted out. His eyes went wide in fear and humiliation as his hand quickly clamped down over his uncontrollable lips.

"I regret this already." Shego muttered, letting the weapon slip from between her slender fingers and drop the floor.

Let's Go

Ron and Kim stood, out of the rain, under the canopy outside of school, waiting together for her dad to come pick her up. "Do you need a ride to the mall Ron? Because, I talked to Monique and she said if you couldn't find one she'd give you one. So, y'know, you wouldn't have to walk all that way in the rain."

Ron waved his hand dismissively, "No need to worry about that KP. Like I said before, I already got a ride lined up."

Kim puzzled, 'He already has a ride? Since when?' "I don't remember you saying anything like that."

"Duh." It was Ron's turn to roll his eyes. "I talked about it at lunch, remember? Tara and I are going to hang out at the mall for a while. So it's no big for her to give me a ride there and back."

"_You_ and _Tara_ are going to the mall… together?" Kim asked, arching an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Yeah. _We're_ going to the mall… _together_." Ron teasingly mocked, arching his eyebrow as best he could. "You must have been too busy sucking face with Andy to listen."

'Jealous of him?' The little voice asked  
'No!'  
'Oh… So you're jealous of her?'  
'Shut Up!'

Kim blushed profusely, pushing a stray length of hair from in front of her eyes. "I guess I must have been… Sorry about ignoring you like that Ron."

"Relax KP. Just teasing ya a little."

Tara drove her car up under the canopy, putting the passenger side window down about halfway. "Ready to go Ron?" She asked, leaning over toward them a bit.

"Just a sec Tara." Ron turned to Kim, "I'll stop by your house tonight… probably around, let's say…Eight."

"I'll be there." Kim jokingly replied. "I'm grounded remember?"

Ron chuckled, stepping off the curb and into Tara's waiting car. "Later KP."


	31. Learning Curves

Learning Curves

Kim waited until Tara's car disappeared around the corner before she reached into her _Brown-Bear _backpack and got her Kimmunicator out. She clicked it on and pressed the call button.

"What's up Kim?" Wade asked.

"I need you to track Ron for me. Every step he takes, every move he makes… I want you watching him."

Wade sighed as he began to work on implementing her request. "He's hanging out with Tara again, right?"

A determined looking Kim nodded her head silently.

"I thought you said he was just helping her get through that _Brick_ _thing_." Kim didn't answer him so he asked. "What's so **bad** about that again?"

Kim's eyes blinked once, "Nothing… I guess." She considered the sitch for a moment. "Wade just forget about doing what I asked… And don't tell Ron about it. Ok?"

"Ok Kim, I won't… and Kim… don't worry. She's not going to steal him from you… But, you knew that already, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Kim's head nodded slightly as she smiled. "Thanks Wade."

"Later Kim." Wade said switching off the link from his end. He pushed back from his desk and cracked his knuckles before leaning back in for a hard afternoon of spying. Ron _was_ going to be watched that afternoon. A map overlay showing the Tri-City area popped onto the computer screen.

Wade had learned a great deal more about Kim and Ron than they would ever know, thanks in large part to his creative use of their tracking chips as well as Kim's Kimmunicator and Ron's Ronnunicator. The _always on even when they're not _feature he had incorporated into them came in handy on more than one occasion.

"Tara do you think we could stop at my house before we go to the mall?" Ron's transmitted voice asked.

"Sure Ron." Tara's **_very happy _**transmitted voice replied.

Wade sat back, a large perverted smile gracing his eleven year old face.

Subjects: Ron Stoppable and Tara Mathews.  
Current location: Eastbound on Friedle Avenue.  
Destination: Ron's house.

"Oh yeah." It would appear that he was going to learn a great deal today.

Mom

'At least it's Tara he's hanging out with. She's far enough out of his league… I just hope he doesn't get the wrong idea about her friendliness. It'd break his heart…'

A beeping car horn pulled Kim from her rumination. Her ride had arrived. Kim stepped off the curb to open the door. "Mom?"

"Hi Kimmie. Where's Ron? I thought maybe he'd want a ride home." Her mother asked glancing over Kim's shoulder looking for Ron.

"He already left…" Kim replied impassively.

"He's walking home in this downpour?" She asked, concerned Ron could catch a cold if he got all wet. "I didn't pass him on my way here."

"No." Kim's voice took on a displeased tone. "He left with _Tara_… They're going to the mall… _together_."

"You like him a lot don't you?"

"Of course I do." Kim answered unconsciously as she buckled her safety belt. "He's my **_best_** _friend_…" A comfortable moment of silence followed. "I don't want to see him get hurt by her."

"Mm-hmm." Mrs. P hummed as she checked her mirrors, signaled, and pulled away from the curb.

First Stop

The baby blue convertible came to a stop in the driveway of Ron's home. "I'll just be a minute Tara." Ron said as he unbuckled his seatbelt and reached for the door handle.

"Can I come in Ron?" She asked tentatively. "I've never seen the inside of your house… and I… I kinda want to."

He paused. 'Mom and dad aren't at home. They'd freak if they ever found out I had a girl over when they weren't here.'

'Kim's at your house all the time…with you…_alone_… What's so different about Tara?' The little voice asked.  
'Kim's my best friend… Tara is… Tara is a girl.'  
'Just like Kim.' The voice pointed out.  
'Kim is not a **girl**.' Ron retorted, noting. '…at least not _that_ kind of girl.'  
'Whatever you say, Spanky.'

"Ron?" Tara asked, waving a tantalizingly delicate hand in front of his face. "You ok? You sorta spaced out on me for a minute there. So can I come in? Or should I just wait in the car…" Her voice growing faint. "…alone."

Ron silently agonized over his predicament for a _very_ few seconds before deciding. "Sure, why not? It won't hurt anything to have you come inside." With that settled the pair braced themselves for the rain and scrambled out of the car toward the front door.

Do It Right

Bonnie pulled her car into the parking ramp at the Middleton Mall, she had told Chris to meet her here after school. 'Where is he? If he's stood me up I'll…' She spotted him sitting on the tailgate of his illegally parked truck.

"You don't look very crippled to me." She remarked, adding. "You're going to end up getting a ticket."

He smirked, holding up a forged handicapped parking permit. "No, I won't."

"Very slick… You have one of those for me?" She asked sweetly.

"No." He said, pocketing the duplicitous tag.

She pouted, if there was one thing she hated it was unnecessary walking. "Please…"

He shook his head. "One thing at a time Bon-Bon." He stepped down off his seat and walked over to her, leaning in close. "So when is _she_ supposed to get here?"

"I told her to meet me here after she got out of practice. So it should be any minute now."


	32. Off the Hook

Off The Hook

"You'd think it stop raining eventually… or at least let up a little." Ron complained, hanging his jacket on its hook.

"Isn't it supposed to rain all night too?" Tara asked as she dabbed a napkin across her wet forehead.

"That's what they say." Ron leaned against the hall table and began to write out a short note for his parents. '_At_ _the_ _mall_, _back_ _for_ _dinner_- _R_'. "You can wait for me in the living room, and there's pop in the fridge if you want one." Ron said as he ascended the stairs, going to his room to change his clothes.

"Ok, thanks Ron." Tara admired the view he offered until he was out of sight. Feeling suddenly thirsty, she headed for the kitchen. 'A pop does sound good.'

She was impressed at how neat and orderly the house was; nothing like what she had expected, judging from how Kim said Ron kept his locker. 'He's either a closet neat-freak or his parents do a lot of picking up behind him.' She mused.

x.

"Rufus have you seen my Leafs jersey?" Ron asked, digging through one of the piles of clean and semi clean clothes on the floor of his room.

Rufus shrugged and shook his head, "no."

"Well don't just stand there." Ron chided. "Help me look… I don't want to keep Tara waiting."

Rufus dove into one of the piles and began his own search. A few seconds of looking later and he had, "Found it."

Ron reached down and took it, "Thanks buddy." He gave the shirt a quick sniff, 'smells clean enough,' before pulling it on.

x.

Tara cracked open the cool can of Citra and took a long slow drink. 'I didn't think they made this anymore. It's _sooo_ good though.' Two years ago Ron had picked up 50 cases of it for 100 dollars on close out at Smarty Mart, Aisle 14. His mom was **still** complaining about how it took up all the room in the garage.

Tara was standing in the living room looking at family photos on the wall. 'There are so many pictures with Kim in them. It's almost like she's part of the family… How am I supposed to ever compare to her in his eyes?' The phone rang and, not thinking, she picked up. "Hello?"

"Kimberly?" A perplexed older male voice asked.

'People even call for her here?' She shook her head lightly. "No, this is Tara."

"Oh, sorry. I must have the wrong number." He apologized and hung up. Tara switched the phone off and set it back onto the tabletop.

"Did I hear the phone ring?" Ron asked as he stepped into the room from the stairs.

"Yeah, but it was a wrong number."

"You answered it?" Ron asked, worried that it could have been his dad or worse yet, his mom. 'She'd definitely freak the most.'

"Sorry… " Tara paled a touch, concerned that Ron might be angry with her, he wasn't.

"It was a wrong number anyway… nothing to worry about." Giving her a whisper thin smile as he dismissively waved his hand.

Her color returning Tara asked. "Ready to go?"

x.

Mr. Stoppable checked his speed dialer, wondering if it had malfunctioned. "No, that's the right number 448-3678. I wonder…" Did Ron actually have a girl over? And a beautiful blonde cheerleader nonetheless? "My son _the **man**_…" He smiled, pumping his fist. "…_doing something_."

Boy Interrupted

"They're not at his house anymore. It looks like they're heading for the mall now." The boy genius looked up from his computer screen. "Do you want me to keep tracking them - _him_ - or……?"

Kim didn't say yes, but she didn't say no either, she just rolled the corner of her lower lip between her teeth and looked away.

"I'll take that as - _No_."

"Thanks Wade." She said sheepishly, clicking off the Kimmunicator. 'I should be happy for him… He gets to spend some time with a pretty girl.' She sat down at her desk, turning on her computer, and opened her diary. 'So why aren't I happy?' She began to type in her entry for the day. 'Tara and Ron…'

A Change

Tara had safely merged into traffic on Lexington Parkway when she flipped open her cell phone to make a call. "Hi, it's me." Stealing a sidelong glance at Ron, trying her best to sound disappointed. "Something came up so I have to cancel, sorry."

Bonnie was, to say the least, let down. "But I thought we were going shopping… like old times?"

Tara quickly suggested, "How about tomorrow?" That would work… except, her dad was coming home _tomorrow_. "Oh wait. How about Thursday? Let's do it then. Does that work for you?"

"Sure, Thursday's great Tara." Bonnie could tolerate waiting another two days for Tara to get what she deserved.

"Ok, talk to you later. Bye." Tara flipped the phone shut and turned the stereo back up, drumming her fingers on the wheel to the beat of the music. Driving straight past the exit they needed to take.

"Uh, Tara? Middleton Mall was _that_ exit." Ron said, looking back over his shoulder. "If you take the next one we can double back."

"Or we can just go to the Woodsfield Mall in Upperton instead…" Tara suggested.

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't make any difference to me. A mall is a mall." He shifted slightly in his seat, adjusting his seatbelt. "As long as they have a Club Banana."

"I thought you only shopped at Smarty Mart." She asked.

"When I'm buying something for _me_, I do." He said. "But I'm buying something for **_Kim_**, so I _have_ to do Club Banana."

"Oh… Ok." Tara put her eyes back on the road, concentrating on the task at hand… driving.

In Plans

Bonnie flipped shut her phone and turned to Chris. "She cancelled… Are you free Thursday?"

"I'm never _free_ Bonnie." He cracked, opening the driver's side door of his truck. "So I'll take my _reason_ for being here today… _now_."

Bonnie sighed, lightly licking her lips before climbing into the truck. "This had better be worth it."

"It will be..." He smiled, '...for me' as he closed the door behind him.


	33. Outfitter

_'…and how did she get him to agree to hang out at the mall with her? He hates it when I drag him shopping with me at the mall. He always ends up at Aladdin's Castle… playing video games.' Kim pushed back from her desk, "I bet he's there right now…"_

**Outfitter**

"So what do you think of this top Ron?" Tara asked holding up a creamy-white taffeta blouse.

"I like it…" He smiled, shopping with Tara wasn't so bad after all. His opinion seemed to _actually_ matter to her. "You'd look good in it."

'She'd look good out of it too.' The little voice noted.  
'Got that right.' He silently agreed.

"You really think so?" She asked holding it up against herself as she looked in the mirror.

"Definitely."

She scrunched it up, "I'll be right back," and headed into the dressing room. Where she quickly stripped out of her shirt and put on the new top. She stepped out. "What do you think?" Turning one way and then the other, giving him a good look at the fit.

Ron gave her a once over, cocking an eyebrow as he nodded approvingly. "That top is definitely you Tara."

Sucker

"Later Bon-Bon." Chris cocked his head as he backed his truck from the handicapped parking space.

Bonnie waved meagerly but didn't return his farewell, she was too busy trying to get a hair out from between her teeth. "Ugh… thith ith…" she spit "…disgusting."

Silly Boy

"Try this one on Ron." Tara held out a nice button up long-sleeved shirt for him.

Ron hesitated. "…I kinda like pullovers; I always mess up the buttoning on these fancy shirts."

"Please?"

"I really don't…"

Tara unleashed that which Ron feared the most.She had curled her lower lip down and out, letting her eyes go wide and sad. "Pwease?"

Usually Ron would say '**_fine_**' in a semi-annoyed tone and grudgingly relent to whatever demand had been made of him. He didn't this time, choosing instead to speak in a gentle, yet reluctant tone. "Ok..."

Her _pout_ gave way to a wide smile as she handed him the shirt; he took it and walked into the changing room. When he came out he looked, well… semi-nice at least. "You look _nice_ Ron."

"Really?" He asked doubtfully.

"Yeah… except you missed a button." She reached out and began to work on correcting his mistake, prolonging the moment just long enough to enjoy being so much closer to him. She casually ran her hand down the row of neatly aligned buttons, her fingers lingering slightly once they reached the waistband of his khakis. "There…" turning him by the shoulders to face the mirror, "all better." She stood behind him, her hands absently adjusting the fit of both the sleeves and collar.

Ron wiggled uncomfortably as she ran a finger behind the buttoned up collar. "It's kind of itchy."

Tara giggled. "That's because it's new _silly_. You're supposed to wash it before you wear it… to get all the sizing out of it."

Ron continued to fidget, indistinctly whining. "I don't have to wash _Smarty Mart _stuff."

.x.

'…then again what did I expect?He's got a pretty girl paying attention to him… fawning over him._' _

.x.

Ron and Tara were heading for Club Banana; he hadn't forgotten the one thing he _needed_ to pick up today. Kim's lotion.

"So what are you buying Kim?" Tara asked, curious.

"Just some lotion. She ran out and, since she's grounded, she asked me to pick some up for her." Ron said, digging the 30 dollars out of his pocket.

"Oh… I thought maybe **_you_** were buying her something."

"I am… lotion." Ron said.

"I meant as a gift." She clarified.

"…like I'd spend 30 bucks on a gift for KP." Ron chuckled. 'Tara must think I'm made of money or something.'

"Well, she is your **_best friend_**."

"Kim's way more than a _best friend..._" Ron stated as they entered Club Banana, together.

Check Up

Wade was happy, his clandestine observation of Ron and Tara had continued uninterrupted for over an hour and a half now. According to the data being sent by the Ronnunicator, they were in close proximity to each other; in the last 47 minutes the pair hadn't been more than 6 feet away from each other at any time.

BEEP-

Wade groaned, "Not again," pulling his hand down over his face, wiping away the frustration at being interrupted once again.

BEEP-

Smiling, he finally answered. "What's up Kim?"

"Sorry to keep bothering you like this Wade; can you tell me where they are now?"

Wade casually glanced at a monitor. "They're still at the mall… looks like they're in the food court."

"Thanks Wade."

"No problem Kim… anything else you needed me for?" He asked.

"No. Thanks again Wade." She responded, before shutting down her link with him.

Mr. Smoothie

"You know something Tara? Shopping with you is… well, kind of fun." Ron said, struggling to keep all their shopping bags in his grasp.

Tara blushed a little. "I've had fun too Ron. It was _really_ nice of you to ask me if I wanted to come with you."

"What can I say?" Ron shrugged his shoulders, a small yet effervescent smile on his face. "I like hanging out with you."

"I like hanging with you too." She blushed even more, looking away shyly.

"Here you go kids." The man behind the counter held out two medium sized cups toward them.

"Thanks." Tara paid the man and took both cups in hand, leading the way to one of the small tables; where they would sit down and have a chance to relax.

"So what flavor is this again?" Ron asked, dropping their bags to the ground before casting a suspicious eye toward his cup.

"It's my favorite, Peach Jasmine Fusion. It's _totally_ badical." Tara said, taking a small slurp of her drink through the straw.

Ron took a sniff he could easily smell the peach, it was almost overwhelming, but the Jasmine… 'Oh, there it is… kinda nice. Where have I smelled that smell before though?' His brow crinkled as he continued to sniff the frozen drink.

"Everything ok, Ron?" Tara asked.


	34. Call Me

Freeze

From the corner of his eye he spotted Tara looking at him funnily. 'Ok Ron, quit acting like an idiot, be a man and take a drink already, it's only a _smoothie_.' Ron flicked his tongue out and caught the tip of his straw, bringing it deftly between his lips. He took a sip. 'Not bad.' Then another. 'Actually pretty good.' Followed by another much longer one, so long in fact that the sides of the cup began to collapse in. Releasing the straw he finally answered. "You were right Tara, that's **_totally_** badi…" Ron stopped mid-word and suddenly clenched at the sides of his head, "Aaah… Brain freeze!"

Tara chuckled, 'he's so cute.' lightly shaking her head from side to side. "That's what you get for drinking it so fast."

"Ah, huh, ah…" Ron began breathing deeply, attempting to thaw his head.

**Data**

'Hmm... Information from the chip shows Ron experiencing some sort of strange highly localized body temperature fluctuations.' Wade began to enter commands into the computer in order to narrow down what was causing the odd readings.

BEEP-

"…Not again…" Wade groaned and let his head drop into his hands.

BEEP-

"What do you want Kim?" He asked curtly, not even bothering to look up at the screen when he answered her call.

She could tell that Wade was less than happy to see her again, so soon. "Sorry again Wade, but…"

Wade interrupted her. "He's **still** at the mall with Tara."

"Have they…" She began to ask.

"**They** went to Club Banana." Wade quickly listed everything he figured Kim would want to know... again. "**He** bought your lotion. And now they're sitting in the food court, **together**, drinking smoothies."

'Smoothies?' Kim was taken aback by his abruptness. "Uhh... _Thanks_ _Wade_."

"Sorry, Kim." He apologized. "I've been really busy this afternoon… with, ah, working on, umm, the Ronnunicator. I have the direct link with your Kimmunicator set up now. So now if you want _him…_ you can beep **_him_**."

"Thanks again, Wade." She smiled apologetically. "You continue to rock."

"Later, Kim." He shut down the link from his end and went on about his business.

A Date by Any Other Name

"How many more smoothies are you going to drink?" Ron was currently working on finishing his third Peach Jasmine Fusion.

Wiping a napkin across his chin he answered. "I think this is going to have to be my last one… I'm almost out of money."

Tara smiled, Ron was… Ron was… she just smiled. This day had been almost perfect, there was only one thing that could make it any better. "Well if you're ready to go, we should probably head for home."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Ron scooped up their bags and stood up. They headed out of the food court toward the parking lot. Hoping that maybe it had stopped raining, it hadn't. In fact it was coming down even harder; they could barely see 50 feet in front of them.

"Maybe we should wait and see if it lets up." Ron suggested.

"Afraid of getting wet?" Tara teasingly asked.

"Are you?" He shot back.

She smirked and Ron returned hers with one of his own. That settled the pair made a mad dash for the car. Remote in hand, Tara frantically pressed the unlock button as she scampered for the car. Ron followed close behind, weighed down by the many shopping bags he carried.

x.

'So I can call him direct now… I wonder if I should.' Kim nervously twiddled her Kimmunicator in her hands as she paced the floor of her room. 'I don't want him to think I'm checking up on him or anything.' Deciding that she could wait until after dinner to call him she put the Kimmunicator down on her desk and went downstairs to hang out with the family.

x.

Tara pulled into his driveway and put her car into park. "Do you have everything?" She asked, wanting to make sure he didn't forget anything, although that would give her a reason to come back sooner.

Ron glanced into the backseat. "Looks like I got all of my stuff." 'One, two, three bags. Yep that's all of it.' He turned in his seat to face Tara. "Thanks again for taking me to the mall Tara. I had a great time."

She smiled happily. "I had a great time too."

Ron fidgeted, unsure of if what he was about to do was the right thing for him to do. "Would it… be ok if…" He looked away briefly before looking into her eyes. "If I… If I called you later?"


	35. Digits

**441-2169**

"If I say **_okay_** are you going to hang up again?" Tara asked in a playfully stern tone.

"No." Ron answered quickly, adding. "Well… maybe… unless _you_ answer."

She smiled. "I'll give you my cell number. I'm the only one that answers it."

"Cool." Ron said.

"It's four- four- one- two- one- sixty nine." Tara rattled it off rather quickly.

"Four-four- what?" Ron asked, he had a hard enough time remembering his own number most days.

"Let me write it down for you." Tara pulled a pen and slip of paper out of her handbag and started to write it out. She stopped, asking mischievously. "You won't lose it between here and your house will you?"

"No."

"I have an idea…" Tara grabbed his left hand, pulling it toward her, held it palm up, and wrote her number on it. "There, now you can't lose it."

Ron drew his hand back and looked at the neatly written number; she had even included her name above it. So he wouldn't forget whose it was. He blushed, barely, and gave her a slight smile. "I'll call you when I get back from KP's… Probably around 8:30. Ok?"

"Ok." She answered quietly. "Bye."

"Bye." Ron said as he stepped from the car, running quickly for the shelter of the front steps.

Tara gave a little wave as she backed out of his driveway. Ron reciprocated her wave with one of his own, careful not to use his left hand. He stood watching her drive away for a few seconds before he opened the door and stepped into his house.

Early

It was 7:07 and the Possible family had just finished eating their dinner. Jim and Tim were clearing the table and Kim was in the kitchen doing dishes. Under duress.

"Here's some-" Jim began.

"-more dishes." Tim finished, dropping the stack of plates into the sink, splashing Kim's bare midriff with the hot-soapy water.

"You did that on purpose." Kim accused, threateningly pointing a scrubber-brush at her younger brothers.

"No-" Tim said.

"-it was-" Jim said.

"-an accident." They finished in sarcastic harmony.

Kim seethed, her rage boiling to the surface. "Tweebs! Out! Now!" Her normally dulcet voice replaced by a guttural growl.

"Gotta go." Quickly spoken as the twin boys scurried to the relative safety of the living room.

Kim was grumbling under her breath, wishes of being an only child and such, when she heard the doorbell chime. Not thinking anything of it, she continued fiercely scrubbing away.

"Do you do windows too?" A familiar voice teasingly asked. "Because mine could really use it."

"Ron." She greeted him sweetly, her dour mood quickly lightening. "How'd you get past my dad?"

"Trade secret KP." He joshed, before confessing. "He's watching The Weather Channel… I don't think he knows I'm here. Your mom let me in." He held out a Club Banana bag.

"You got it." She smiled, reaching for the bag and its valuable contents.

"Of course I did. But…" He cut himself off, pulling the bag away from Kim.

"But what?" Kim asked as she took a step, reaching for the bag

"Nothing." He yelped as she snatched it from him.

"Ron?" She raised an eyebrow and leaned into him slightly. "But what?" She pulled the bottle and receipt out of the bag, not that she didn't trust Ron to get the right product but… "Woodsfield Mall?" She questioned, reading over the receipt.

T-time

Andy had just brought the last of the dishes in from the dining room, setting them on the counter next to the sink for Tara to wash. "These are the last of the dishes, sis."

She picked up about half the stack and set them in the sink to soak. "Thanks."

"So how was your _date_ with Ron today?" He asked, with an ever so slight smirk.

"It wasn't a **_date_**." She explained, a slight note of annoyance in her usually sweet voice. "We were just hanging out."

"Yeah." Andy chuckled. "Ok, how was your _hanging out _then?"

"It was **wonderful**." She beamed.

"Are you two going to _Hang-Out _again?" He asked, making little quote things with his fingers on 'Hang-out.'

"I hope so… He's supposed to call later."

Andy raised a finger, "well you know..."

"He's calling my cell." She cut him off. "So I don't have to worry about you scaring him off."

"Oh right..." Andy chuckled as he waggled his fingers in Tara's face. "I'm a scary man. Ooh-o-ooh."

"Cut it out Andy." She giggled, playfully splashing him with some dishwater.

He collapsed to the floor, writhing in mock agony. "I'm melting, melting… argh."

Tara ignored him, rolling her eyes before continuing to wash the dishes.

Mall Rules

"You went to Woodsfield Mall?" Kim asked, pointing out. "That's all the way in Upperton."

"It was Tara's idea." Ron said quickly, shifting the blame. "I didn't think it would've been such a big deal."


	36. Mother Knows Best

**Lean Back**

"It's not… It's just… never mind." Kim set aside the scrubber brush and dried her hands, finishing the dishes could wait. She popped open the lid of her lotion and squirted a blob onto her hand, before motioning the bottle toward Ron. "You want some?"

He waved his hand dismissively, "No thanks…"

'I've got 5 bottles at home.' Ahh, that little voice.  
'Shut up.'

Kim saw… _something_ on Ron's palm, but dismissed it as just a doodle. "So did you pick up anything else at the mall?" She asked, relaxing a bit, leaning back against the kitchen counter.

Ron went into exquisite detail, recalling every outfit that Tara tried on and all the ones she had him try on. Unbelievable… 'Ron tried on clothes?'

He continued, telling Kim about the new shirt he bought. "A long-sleeved, button up thing." Kim was in shock. This couldn't be the same Ron who had so often refused to even look at new clothes when she took him shopping with her. _'I've got plenty of shirts at home, why get more?'_

"…She even said I looked _nice _in it…"

**Clean**

Tara had finished her chores for the evening and headed upstairs to her room; she still had about an hour and ten minutes left to wait until Ron was supposed to call. She planned on finishing up her homework and then doing… _whatever_ until then.

"Tara?" Her mom asked as she knocked gently on the partially open door of her daughter's room.

Tara looked up from her studies, a project for Current Events. "What, mom?"

Debbie Mathews held up a pair of hangers; Tara's new shirts, washed and dried. "I figured you'd want to hang these up."

Tara stood up, walked over and took the hangers. "Thanks."

Mrs. Mathews folded her arms as she watched Tara make room in her closet. "So… It sounds like you and Ron had fun shopping today."

"We did…" She replied dreamily.

****

Yuck-Mouth

Bonnie's mother knocked on the frame of the slightly open bathroom door. She was concerned; Bonnie had spent the last ten minutes brushing her teeth. "You haven't been throwing up again have you?"

Bonnie turned, brush in mouth, a thick foamy blob of toothpaste running down her chin. "Nau Maum."

Her mom stepped in and glanced toward the stool, it was empty. She sniffed the air, it didn't exactly smell like roses, but there was no vomit smell. "When you're done brushing why don't you come downstairs and we can watch TV together."

Bonnie spit into the sink. "Ok mom," she paused, checking her teeth in the mirror. "For a little while anyway."

****

Digital

Kim finally got a good look at what she originally thought was just a doodle on Ron's palm. "Is that… Tara's number?"

"Yep." Ron answered, holding his hand out for her to see. "I'm supposed to call her when I get home." He smiled. "I think she _likes_ me…"

"She _likes_ you?" Kim asked.

"Yeah." Ron nodded.

****

Been

"…He's not like any guy I've ever been with before." This casual remark garnered Tara a rather upset look from her mother. "Not _been with- _been with," she blushed. "I meant _gone out with_- been with."

"…thank god…" Her mother sighed.

"Mom!"

****

Rule

"She _likes_ you." Kim repeated, keeping an observant eye on Ron. "Do you… _like_ her?"

Ron noncommittally shrugged his shoulders. "Well… _yeah_, but… I mean, don't get me wrong, Tara's a great girl and all but…" He raised a hand. "She's way up here… smart, pretty, popular..." He held his other hand low "…and I'm down here… average, average, below average." He shrugged once again before bringing his hands together. "Even if we tried..." he shook his head, "...it'd be **_so_** against the rules… wouldn't last."

"How can you be sure?" Kim murmured.

"Seen it before. Someone… cooler… more popular… would come along and she'd forget I even exist..." He paused, looking away for a scant second. Were those… _footsteps?_

Kim realized where Ron had seen it before… He'd lived it before… with her. She'd dump or be dumped and glom onto him, spending every moment she could with him… that is, until the next hottie came along. "…I'm sorry Ron…" her voice only the barest of whispers.


	37. Inviting

**Chore**

If Ron heard Kim's muted apology he didn't give any outward sign of it. "Of course it's kind of my own fault for even getting involved with Zita in the first place." He turned back to face Kim, his eyes narrowing with worry as he took in the despondent look on her face. "KP? You alright?"

Kim sputtered, "Oh right… Zita," tapping two fingers against her forehead, "_duh…_" She lightly shook her head, "I thought maybe," crossing her eyes as she stuck out the tip of her tongue, "_duh_…" before recomposing herself. "Zita… yeah right, Zita."

Kim was acting flaky, in a major way. "I'm starting to think that this being grounded thing is rotting your brain."

"Who's got a rotten brain?" Mrs. Possible's unexpected appearance in the kitchen startled both Ron and Kim. Since when was she so sneaky? "Its time for you go Ron. You've been here _too long _and Kimberly still has to finish her chores."

Ron snickered, "_Chores_."

"Let's go mister." Mrs. Possible grabbed Ron by the collar and started him on his way out of the kitchen. She pointed back to Kim, "those dishes won't wash themselves young lady," and left to escort Ron out of the house.

Kim heard him call back to her, _"later KP." _She sighed, "Bye Ron."

**Touch**

Chris stopped by the 'Q', a local teen hangout, for a night of pool after his _meeting_ with Bonnie.

"Come on Chris, quit stalling and shoot already. It's not like you haven't got all the DVDs of that at home." His opponent, Felix, the current _owner_ of the table, had been on a roll and wanted to continue the game ASAP. After all, in his mind, when you came to the 'Q' you came to shoot pool, not watch TV

Chris swatted his hand in the general direction of Felix, but didn't take his eyes off the screen. "Yeah yeah. Just a second, I wanna see this…"

_"You have to use a light touch, like a safecracker or a pickpocket."  
"Or a guy who burns down a bar for the insurance money."_  
_"Yes… If you make it look like an electrical thing… When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."_

An eyebrow arched slightly as a sudden wave of inspiration crested. "…People won't be sure you've done anything at all…" He repeated, almost silently, as he stepped around the table to line up his next shot. "I'm going to cut the eight ball… near side pocket." His stroke was as smooth as it was crisp. Easy. Effortless. Just like dealing with Tara would be.

**Home**

Ron took his time walking home. So it was raining cats and dogs… and he didn't have an umbrella… big deal. What Mrs. Possible had told him… It was _definitely_ something he needed to take time to think about.

He arrived home, hanging his jacket on its hook as he kicked off his shoes. "I'm home."

There was no answer.

"That's weird. I wonder wh…" The thought that maybe his mom and dad were off… _doing something_ suddenly flashed through his mind. He shuddered… closing his eyes as he shook his head. "No…no…no…no…"

**Sitter**

Kim ran through the rules… again. Ticking them off on her fingers as she went. "I'm to be home no later than 4:30. I'm to have Jim and Tim in bed by 8:00. I'm to check in with you every hour on the hour. I'm to have Ron out of the house by 9:45. And, I'm to be in bed by 10:00."

Mrs. Possible nodded her head approvingly. "We're depending on you to take good care of your brothers for us."

Kim glanced over at the clock, it was a few minutes past nine. "I'm going to go up to my room, I still have to finish my Physics homework."

"Don't stay up too late, we're going to be going out to breakfast at 6:45."

**Waffle**

Ron was lying across his bed, feet hanging over the side, cordless phone in hand. "Sure Tara that sounds great, I'll--"

-_BEEP BOOP_-

"What's that noise?" Tara asked.

"It's my Ronnunicator. Just a second." Ron sat up and began rummaging around in the drawer of his nightstand. Wondering aloud. "Where'd I put that thing?"

-_BEEP BOOP_-

From his perch on the desk Rufus pointed toward the dresser. "Over there."

"Oh yeah. Thanks buddy." Ron stood up, stepping over a pile of clothes to pull open the top drawer.

-BEEP BOOP-

"Must be Wade again."

Wrong.

The screen displayed 'Incoming: KP'. Ron clicked the 'talk' button and the text screen faded, replaced by an image of Kim. "Hey KP."

"_Hey Ron_." Kim sounded _happy_ to see him. "I was wondering…" she paused, noticing the phone held in his other hand. "I can call back later if you're still--"

Ron interrupted her. "No that's okay… just… can you hold on a second?" He didn't wait for an answer from her before bringing the phone back to his ear. "Tara. Yeah, it's Kim… I don't know… yeah…" He smiled. "Okay, I will." He giggled. "**I** **will** **too**… okay… you too… bye-bye." He clicked the phone off and turned his attention back to Kim.

"What up KP?"

Kim hesitated. "I was… My dad said it'd be okay if you… If you wanted to go to breakfast with us?" She asked, adding quite hopefully. "Waffle House."


End file.
